Saturday, October 25
Eugene, Ore.
4:00 PM
University of Oregon
vs
Wisconsin
Photo by: GoDucks.com
Tie-Dye Brings Grateful Ducks Uniform To Life
10/19/25 | Football
The Oregon football team on Sunday released its uniform for Saturday's "tie-dye out" against Wisconsin (4 p.m., FS1).
EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon football team will be a full participant in Saturday's "tie-dye out" of Autzen Stadium, with the Ducks outfitted in a jersey befitting the "Grateful Ducks" theme of their matchup with Wisconsin.
The athletic department announced in July that this week's game would celebrate the relationship between Eugene and the Grateful Dead, the iconic jam band that played Autzen Stadium a total of 10 times between 1974 and 1994. And on Sunday, the football team released the special uniforms it will wear to mark the occasion.
The uniform features numerals in a green and yellow tie-dye, on a black jersey. The green and yellow tie-dye also is incorporated in the "O" logo on the back of the Ducks' black helmets for Saturday's game, which will kick off at 4 p.m. on FS1 and for which tickets remain available via GoDucks.com/FBtix.
"As it's the Oregon tradition to be untraditional, this is just the latest example of the relationship between Nike and Oregon represented in a football uniform accompanied by both player and fan off-field apparel," UO football equipment administrator Kenny Farr said. "We are grateful — pun very much intended — for the opportunity to participate in this collaboration."
Each shoulder of the jersey bears a special patch melding UO imagery with the Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo, which incorporates a lightning bolt inside a skull. Rather than the original red and blue, the logo is green and yellow; the skull is a Duck head, and the bottom of the lighting bolt curls upward into a Nike swoosh.
Inside the jersey collar is another mash-up — a line of the Grateful Dead's "dancing bears" that is instead dancing Ducks. That imagery also appears on the rear bumper of the helmet.
The "tie-dye out" will carry forward the shared history of the University of Oregon and Grateful Dead, which began in 1965 when novelist and Merry Pranksters leader Ken Kesey returned home to Oregon from San Francisco, bringing with him the energy that fueled the psychedelic and countercultural movement. In 1968, the Grateful Dead performed their first concert at the University of Oregon's EMU Ballroom, forging a bond that transcended music.
As Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux described, the university became the band's "home away from home."
That relationship deepened in 1972, when the band returned to play a legendary benefit concert for the Kesey family's Springfield Creamery, makers of Nancy's Yogurt, saving the business and delivering one of the most storied performances in rock history.
Retail items associated with the "Grateful Ducks" uniforms will go on sale later this week, online and at local retailers.
The athletic department announced in July that this week's game would celebrate the relationship between Eugene and the Grateful Dead, the iconic jam band that played Autzen Stadium a total of 10 times between 1974 and 1994. And on Sunday, the football team released the special uniforms it will wear to mark the occasion.
The uniform features numerals in a green and yellow tie-dye, on a black jersey. The green and yellow tie-dye also is incorporated in the "O" logo on the back of the Ducks' black helmets for Saturday's game, which will kick off at 4 p.m. on FS1 and for which tickets remain available via GoDucks.com/FBtix.
"As it's the Oregon tradition to be untraditional, this is just the latest example of the relationship between Nike and Oregon represented in a football uniform accompanied by both player and fan off-field apparel," UO football equipment administrator Kenny Farr said. "We are grateful — pun very much intended — for the opportunity to participate in this collaboration."
Each shoulder of the jersey bears a special patch melding UO imagery with the Grateful Dead's "Steal Your Face" logo, which incorporates a lightning bolt inside a skull. Rather than the original red and blue, the logo is green and yellow; the skull is a Duck head, and the bottom of the lighting bolt curls upward into a Nike swoosh.
Inside the jersey collar is another mash-up — a line of the Grateful Dead's "dancing bears" that is instead dancing Ducks. That imagery also appears on the rear bumper of the helmet.
The "tie-dye out" will carry forward the shared history of the University of Oregon and Grateful Dead, which began in 1965 when novelist and Merry Pranksters leader Ken Kesey returned home to Oregon from San Francisco, bringing with him the energy that fueled the psychedelic and countercultural movement. In 1968, the Grateful Dead performed their first concert at the University of Oregon's EMU Ballroom, forging a bond that transcended music.
As Grateful Dead archivist David Lemieux described, the university became the band's "home away from home."
That relationship deepened in 1972, when the band returned to play a legendary benefit concert for the Kesey family's Springfield Creamery, makers of Nancy's Yogurt, saving the business and delivering one of the most storied performances in rock history.
Retail items associated with the "Grateful Ducks" uniforms will go on sale later this week, online and at local retailers.
The Grateful Ducks Uniform - Oregon Football
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