The Notre Dame football program on Wednesday morning unveiled its latest Shamrock Series uniforms, which will be worn against Army at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 23.
The bluish-gray uniforms are inspired by the “Four Horsemen,” the nickname given by Grantland Rice to the 1924 Fighting Irish backfield of quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, halfbacks Don Miller and Jim Crowley and fullback Elmer Layden.
Rice, who was a sportswriter for the New York Herald Tribune, penned arguably the most famous lede in sports history following the the Fighting Irish’s 13-7 win over the Black Knights – known then as the Cadets – at the Polo Grounds in New York.
“Outlined against a blue-gray October Sky, the Four Horsemen rode again,” Rice said. “In dramatic lore, they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.
“They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.”
Notre Dame finished that season with a 10-0 record, including a victory over Stanford in the Rose Bowl, to capture its first national championship. Three of the “Four Horsemen” (Stuhldreher, Crowley and Layden) were named first-team All-Americans.
The uniforms also feature a nod to the typeface on newspaper mastheads with a gold gothic-style number font, which – like the “ND” monogram on the sleeves and left hip – are beveled and rendered in a shiny gold material.
The look is complete with the Fighting Irish’s standard gold helmets, as well as a gold Under Armour logo on the base of the collar, matching their new home, road and alternate uniforms, which are on the manufacturer’s latest template.
This marks the 12th rendition of the Shamrock Series, a neutral site matchup that has seen the Fighting Irish play games San Antonio, New York, the greater Washington D.C. area, Chicago, Indianapolis, Boston, the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Las Vegas.
This is the third trip to Yankee Stadium, including a 27-3 win over Army in 2010 and a 36-3 win over Syracuse in 2018. Notre Dame wore green alternate uniforms in the former and a New York Yankees-inspired design, complete with pinstriped pants, in the latter.
