Today's Tidbit: The Polka Dot Umpire

Jul 22, 2022

I’ve written several articles and Tidbits about the outfits worn by football officials over the years. In short, they first wore everyday clothes, then many wore their college letter sweaters before shifting to all white, and then versions of the black-and-white striped shirt. But there is always that guy.

The picture below by Ray Gallivan of the Pittsburgh Press appears to be from the late 1920s when the typical official in a big-time game wore all white. However, the umpire seen on the right woke up that morning and thought, “I think I’ll score big with my polka dot sweater.” And so, that is what he donned for a major college football game.

Of course, the football world might have forgotten the polka dot sweater incident were it not for the 1948 edition of Bunny Oakes’ Football Line Play, which included this image. I received the book recently and you can expect to see other pictures and illustrations in coming Tidbits. (The images of 1930s defensive line drills published two days ago are from his book.)

If you are interested in reading more about the evolution of football officials’ apparel, check out the links below.

Football Archaeology

How Football's Zebras Got Their Stripes

It is easy to see football today and think the game’s evolutionary path was inevitable, but there is nothing pre-ordained about today’s game. Football might have taken any number of alternative paths, and often did, though many of those twists and turns are forgotten today. Consider that American football was played on a field with a 55-yard line and no end zones until 1912. Only the tweaking of the rules of the recently allowed forward pass led to the adding of end zones and the elimination of the 55-yard line. Likewise, the first wearing of numbered jerseys came in 1905 when rivals Drake and Iowa State met. Drake wore numbers between 1 and 25; the Cyclones wore 26 to 50. As numbered jerseys became popular, players were not numbered by position. Even when the NCAA mandated that player numbers correspond to their position, there were multiple systems proposed, including alphanumeric combinations tried by a handful of schools…

4 years ago · Timothy P. Brown

Football Archaeology

More Alternatives to Zebra Shirts

Each week, schools across the nation excitedly announce the unique combination of colors and styles their teams will wear that weekend. Yet, despite the hype, the never-ending variety all starts to look the same. The weekly new duds, you might say, have jumped the proverbial duck. Conversely, the other guys on football fields – the officials- show up game after game in the same black-and-white striped shirts to unerringly make their calls…

3 years ago · Timothy P. Brown

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