COLUMBIA – As soon as Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel stepped away from the podium Monday afternoon, his weekly press conference turned into a fashion show.
Athletic department officials brought in a mannequin decked out in the special uniform the Tigers will wear Saturday in their game against Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium. Nike chose 10 schools whose athletic programs have contracts with the company, and designed one distinct uniform for each.
Don Barnes, who is director of equipment operations for the MU athletic department, discussed various aspects of the uniform while members of the media passed around a sample football helmet, gloves, cleats, and pants.
The uniform, which will only be used for this year's game against Kansas, features:
Barnes said the dark gray that is prominent throughout the uniform is meant to give Missouri the look of a "stealth bomber."
Senior safety Del Howard was one of several players wearing a white T-shirt with an image of the dark gray helmet printed on it.
"My favorite part is possibly the cleats," Howard said after thinking about the uniform change for a moment. "It has that black and gold and normally we have just black and white cleats."
Sean Weatherspoon agreed the cleats were his favorite part but said he liked the gloves as well. The senior linebacker said he was impressed how Nike put the outfit together.
"The way they did it, it's just amazing," he said.
Last year against Kansas, the Tigers wore gold jerseys in their 40-37 loss.
"They (the Jayhawks) might not recognize us at first, but we'll make sure we let them know who we are pretty soon," Weatherspoon said.
WASHINGTON GETTING HEALTHY: Running back Derrick Washington, who suffered a mild concussion Saturday in the Iowa State game, has been cleared to practice for the rest of the week. Pinkel said Monday he is "very confident that he'll play" against Kansas.