The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are one of the most historic and iconic brands in college sports. The Green Bay Packers are one of the most iconic brands in all of sports, but especially in the NFL.
Yes, technically, the Wisconsin Badgers are the home team for the Week 1 clash at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, but Notre Dame believes it has a lot in common with the Packers.
That’s why the Irish have decided to go deep into the history books for their look for the Shamrock Series game against the Badgers on Sept. 6.
Notre Dame’s jerseys for this game will be blue and gold, which match the jerseys the Packers used to wear when they were the Acme Packers back in the early 1920s.
The color schemes aren’t the only thing the Irish and historic Packers have in common. Paul Hornung played college ball at Notre Dame. He was the first overall pick of the 1957 NFL Draft by the Packers. Hornung won the Heisman Trophy at Notre Dame and a Super Bowl with the Packers.
The Irish are using that connection to inspire their look for this game.
“For a century, our stories have been stitched together — from the ‘Golden Boy’ Paul Hornung winning titles in both colors to the Notre Dame box formation that defined the early days of Green Bay,” head coach Marcus Freeman said in the promotional video (h/t ESPN). “We are the outliers. The small-town legends. The independent spirits who believe tradition isn’t just something you remember. It’s something you wear.”
