Northwestern adds an Irish twist to Dublin uniforms

The Wildcats are less than two days out from their season opener in Dublin, Ireland, which means it’s officially time for the first uniform reveal of the season! Northwestern unveiled three uniform sets this offseason, moving the chest stripe up to the shoulders and revamping to a more traditional look — Saturday will be the first time the Wildcats rep the new jerseys in-game. The team took to Twitter to show off the threads for its matchup against Nebraska.

That’s right, the Grapes are back! With the addition of the new purple helmet, Northwestern returns its purple-on-purple-on-purple combo for the first time since 2006. Per Hail To Purple, the Wildcats have an all-time record of 28-31-2 in the Grapes. However, they have yet to wear the combo in the Under Armour era. Hail To Purple also reported that the purple-purple-purple set first made its appearance in 1890, back when the team was called the Northwestern Purple and wore knit caps.

The jersey was revealed slightly earlier than the rest of the uni by Northwestern alum and ESPN analyst Michael Wilbon, who appears to be in Ireland himself.

Of course, the overseas trip HAD to include some sort of special edition for Dublin, didn’t it? The traditional N on the Wildcats’ helmets is filled with stripes of green, white and orange, resembling the colors and flag of the host country.

With Northwestern bringing back the purple helmets for the 2022 season, we can only dream of the combos that haven’t been used in ages that could be dug up this year. The ‘Cats will rep these uniforms Saturday as they take on Nebraska at 11:30 a.m. CT.