October 27, 2007

FSU to wear black helmets?

To honor the Seminole Tribe, Florida State will again don their black, "Unconquered" uniforms for this weekend's homecoming game against Duke.

The all-black uniforms, which were designed by Nike, were unveiled last year against Boston College as a way to honor the Seminole Tribe. The uniforms bear the word "Unconquered" in recognition of the tribe's status as the only Native Americans that have not negotiated a formal peace treaty with the United States.

FSU is 0-1 in the all-black "Unconquered" uniforms.

This year, there are persistent rumors that FSU will also wear black shell helmets to complete the "blackout" look. As evidence that the Seminoles may wear black helmets, a limited-edition, commemorative black helmet is being sold in the webstore at the team's official website.

Many of the players are very excited about the prospect of wearing the Unconquered uniforms and helmets, however, the fans seem to be more evenly split. Many fans believe that FSU should only wear garnet & gold, the team's official colors, while others believe that the school's willingness to wear the commemorative uniforms honors the relationship with the Seminole tribe, and others believe that they simply look cool.

As a long time FSU fan, I like this notion of the commemorative "Unconquered" uniforms. I will concede that they probably would have looked better with a black helmet last year, but I'm still a little apprehensive about wearing a helmet that has no historical place in the program's history. I get that "there's a first time for everything", but the skeptic in me has to question Nike's role in all of this.

It bears noting that Florida State has not issued a press packet with details about the black helmet specifically. So, either the Seminoles will don the traditional Vegas Gold helmets, or the team is saving this helmet as a "surprise".

I guess this is one way to add any intrigue whatsoever into a 4-3 FSU vs 1-6 Duke game.

Posted by Kevin Donahue