There was big news from the University of Maryland football team the other day.
The Maryland Terps football squad has returned to the “Terps” script helmets and 1980’s style uniforms that have been worn in recent years as a throwback option.
We’d be remiss, however, if we did not pay one last tribute to the uniforms that started Maryland down the uniform path they have followed over the course of the last ten or so years.
I was at the game against Miami on Labor Day 2011 when these uniforms were first introduced.
Were the uniforms perfect? No. The red and white Crossland arms and the black and gold Calvert arms should have been swapped to make it a more accurate depiction of our state flag. But those uniforms were unique. They were historical. They were….very Maryland.
Almost no other state would ever dare to pull off a uniform like this. Even for the one school that did, Colorado State, it just doesn’t hit the same.
The flag uniforms, and their black counterparts, were part of a revolution that has always been present at Maryland. Terps sports teams have always emphasized the state colors and their connection to the state. Maryland is the only college that uses the colors of the state flag as its school team colors. They have always emphasized the four colors of the flag, and often have uniforms that represent each of those four colors. Sure, some of those results weren’t always great. But they were always distinctly Maryland.
The bold flag uniforms of the early 2010s have faded out of use in recent years. Flag elements remain, but they never popped or had quite the appeal of the original flag uniform set.
Nostalgia for the script Terps logo has often been present with Maryland fans. Partly because of the look, but also as a return to better days. The flag uniforms are also associated with some ugly times at Maryland. The disastrous Randy Edsall years. The scandal surrounding D.J. Durkin. A bowl game drought. With Terps football on the rebound after two straight bowl wins, a return to the logo and the more “traditional” uniforms just makes sense.
But as you know, we love our flag. And those original flag uniforms were among the best you’ll ever see. Here’s hoping the Terps break them out every once in awhile.