Florida Gators Unveil Swamp Green Uniforms Against Aggies

TAMPA - The Florida Gators ditched the traditional orange and blue this week, unveiling their new alternate swamp green uniforms with an alligator-skin pattern. As you might expect, reactions on the Twitterverse were not kind.

The new uniforms are designed by Nike and the Gators decided to wear them for the first time against Texas A&M on Saturday. It was the second time in school history that the Aggies have visited The Swamp and first since 1962. Saturday marked the first time in school history that the Florida football team did not wear its orange and blue look. The Gators lost to the Aggies 19-17.

Here is a sampling of Twitter reactions last week to the new uniforms:

"Please tell me that’s a joke.
They look like ninja turtles.
Does it come with coordinators giving quarterbacks easy throws? That might help."

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David Whitley, a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, gave this assessment of the new uniforms:

“Things aren’t exactly going Florida’s way lately, so the Gators will apparently employ a new tactic against Texas A&M on Saturday. Make the Aggies laugh so hard they can’t move. The humor will be provided by the Gators’ alternate uniforms, which were unveiled Monday evening."

UF and Nike officials have been working on the new design for more than two years, according to the Gators website. The Gators website gave this description of the new uniform:

"The new alternate look takes after an alligator's armored body and channels its ability to be a master of camouflage," the website said.

Helmet: A swamp green — used for the first time — covers the helmet, which has a satin finish. The Gator Head logo appears on one side of the helmet, which is another first for Florida.

Jersey: The Gators will be in a swamp green jersey covered in a tonal gator print. Player numbers are orange trimmed in royal blue, while names appear in orange. A TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane, which is essentially a dense but smooth rubber) Gator logo patch sits at the center of the neck gusset.

Gloves and accessories: Custom swamp green gloves showcase royal blue straps and accents and an orange Swoosh on the back of the hand, while a tonal Gator print and the Gator logo appear on the palm over orange.

Pants: The pants are solid swamp green with a TPU Gator logo patch on the hip.

Socks: Florida will have a swamp green Vapor Grip socks. Their strategically placed cushion has a texture that coincidentally mimics the armored skin of an alligator.

Cleats: To complete the look, the players will wear special-edition cleats. The cleats are swamp green and covered in Gator print with chrome orange plates.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of when former coach Steve Spurrier gave Ben Hill Griffin Stadium its nickname, The Swamp.

If it’s any consolation to fans of the new uniforms, 60 percent of participants in a Twitter poll approved of the swamp green version as of Thursday morning.

Read Whitley’s column here.

Photos via UAA Communications/University of Florida