Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1506454
8 SEPT. 2, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME BY TYLER HORKA S am Hartman didn't know the question was coming. But like a veteran quarterback rolling under a blindside blitz and firing a strike downfield for a positive pickup, the sixth-year graduate student expertly navigated the un- expected snag and knew just what to do with it. So, Sam, what's it been like playing in Under Armour- branded cleats and accesso- ries for the last eight months at Notre Dame after five years of sporting Phil Knight's Nike swoosh at Wake Forest? "Ah, it's just gear," Hart- man said. He repeated the last three words. Then the last two. "It's just gear. Just gear." Blue & Gold Illustrated prodded for more. A h i g h - p r o f i l e q u a r te r b a c k a n d a creature of habit like Hartman hasn't altered his attitude or performance for the worse after half a decade of being equipped by the No. 1 apparel supplier in college athletics only to switch to a company that doesn't sponsor even a third of the total number of schools Nike outfits? "Just gear," Hartman said once more. He's not the only one who thinks that way despite a large faction of the Notre Dame fan base voicing disapproval at the extension of the Fighting Irish's contract with Under Armour for an- other 10 years, an agreement made of- ficial in early August. Freshman wide receiver Jaden Great- house set all kinds of records with the Nike logo on his chest — and feet and hands, for that matter — at Texas high school football powerhouse Austin Westlake. You'd think a wideout who went for 232 catches, 4,035 receiving yards and 53 touchdowns in four years would want to stick with the equipment that helped make those gaudy statistics possible. You'd think Greathouse would be Nike for life. Think again. "Clothes are clothes," Greathouse said in his own version of Hartman's "just gear" tagline. "It doesn't really have an effect on me. The cleats feel great. I really have no complaints. They always take care of us and give us nice gear. I have no complaints about Under Armour." Obviously, the last thing a student- athlete wants to do is rip all over the brand that just inked a decade-long ex- tension on a contract that was first set into motion by Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick in 2014. Especially a freshman who has his entire Notre Dame career ahead of him. Graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader, meanwhile, has less to lose. He's only go- ing to be in South Bend for one season. He spent the last four at South Florida, which is also a Nike school. He was open about his adjustment to Under Armour, a brand he had never competed in before. "[Notre Dame head equip- ment manager Chris Bacsik] gave me about seven pairs of cleats to try when I first got here," Shrader said. "I just went through the lineup and I found one that I was com- fortable with, which are the ones I'm wearing now. "They don't even make them anymore, so he's order- ing them off eBay for me." S p e c i a l i s t - p re - ferred cleats is an area in which Un- der Armour isn't up to par, compared to Nike and Adidas. Specialists wear soccer-style cleats for kicking, and Under Armour isn't a soccer- heavy brand. Hence, it's 2023 and a Notre Dame football player — one as impor- tant as the starting kicker — has to get his cleats off eBay. That's not exactly a foolproof way of providing paraphernalia. Shrader isn't the only Irish specialist who has had such issues. "It's a little more difficult to find a cleat I really like," sophomore punter Bryce McFerson said. "We have three or four that are great options versus maybe Nike and Adidas will have 12 or 13 be- cause they're really big brands. But it hasn't been a big deal at all." That's the most important thing. It still hasn't been a big deal at all. The starting quarterback didn't make UNDER THE DOME Yahoo Sports reported Notre Dame's new deal with Under Armour could be the most lucrative apparel sponsorship in college athletics. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER NOT SO UNDERWHELMING Notre Dame's players and Marcus Freeman feel just fine with 10 more years of Under Armour apparel