Ducks reveal Grateful Dead tribute uniforms, surprisingly understated

There's a shoulder patch, a row of dancing teddy Ducks on the back of the helmet, and the numerals are a tie-dyed yellow and green, but otherwise Oregon's Grateful Dead tribute uniforms are surprisingly muted in black and silver.

Oregon fans are requested to wear tie-dye for Saturday's game against Wisconsin, 4 p.m. Saturday at Autzen Stadium, TV on FS1.

The Dead played at the Home of the Ducks ten times between 1974 and 1994, an era where the program needed to sponsor concerts to compensate for lackluster interest in the football product.

It was a period when winning seasons were rare and a certain skunky, pungent smell was common on the streets of Eugene and city parks. If New York City is the town that never sleeps, the Emerald City was the town that often smokes.

For a long, strange period of time Oregon identified with The Dead and The Dead with Oregon, though it's a band from San Francisco. From the porches along Hilyard and Alder Streets the strains of "Truckin," "Ripple" and "Scarlet Begonia" would pour joyfully from speakers, and the party never stopped.

Officially within the athletic program, of course, it's just another way to commemorate Oregon's history with some good music, a splash of jubilant color, a fun-loving band and its fans. The atmosphere that came with it is parenthetical and not officially endorsed.

For one night only the tailgates at Autzen will look like a selfie from the Oregon Country Fair, though rain is in the forecast with the high at 4:20, ten minutes before kickoff, a brisk 53 degrees.

The Ducks will get by, however. They're currently 6-1 and No. 6 in the country, in a seven-way tie for second place in the Big Ten at 3-1 with five games to go in the regular season. If the playoffs commenced today they'd host a home game against BYU, a school with a quite different aesthetic.