The Sun Devils will honor the late Pat Tillman by sporting a retrofitted uniform from the mid-’90s.
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Ahead of Thursday night’s game, Adidas and ASU unveiled “PT-42” alternate football uniforms.
As part of the complete uniform package, Arizona State will wear the Adidas Army Rangers-inspired Dark Ops cleats constructed from flexible canvas, similar to what is worn in the military. You can also start purchasing the items at select adidas locations now, with proceeds benefiting the Pat Tillman Foundation.
“Pat Tillman Foundation and Arizona State University have a proud history of supporting our nation’s veterans and military spouses”, Marie Tillman, president and co-founder of the Pat Tillman Foundation, said in a statement. Before his time with the Arizona Cardinals and the U.S. Army, Tillman played for ASU in the 90’s.
The uniforms throw back to the 1996 look that Tillman and his teammates took to the Rose Bowl after an undefeated regular season. “This special tribute honors Pat’s example as an athlete, scholar and soldier, while raising awareness and academic support for the Tillman Scholars who are carrying on his legacy”. Sadly, he died in 2004 after a tragic friendly fire incident in Afghanistan.
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The nameplate on the back of each jersey will read “Tillman”, as the NCAA granted ASU special permission to use Tillman’s name instead of each individual player’s. The Salute to Service game gets underway at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Sun Devil Stadium.
