The Red and Black

Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: JIM DIFFLY Georgia offensive players line up against Georgia Southern earlier this season. The Bulldogs have been wearing the silver britches since 1939. [Click to enlarge]

DOOLEY

The silver britches gleam in the sweltering Saturday afternoon sun.

Accented with red and black stripes down the sides of each leg, and adorned with a recognizable "G" at the hip, they skid across the ground after an unexpected tackle and a final brutal meeting with the turf. Green grass stains now mark up the knees and thighs.

It's been that way for almost 70 years.

The trademark britches have made up the classic football uniform of the Georgia Bulldogs for many years and coaching tenures.

Those same silver britches were a novel uniform idea by former head coach Wally Butts, and debuted between the hedges in 1939. The phrase and popular cheer "Go, You Silver Britches" was coined and caught fire with football fans in the '50s, blazing its way onto T-shirts, vests and sweaters across the Bulldog Nation.

Assuming the role of head coach in 1964, Vince Dooley became a "dictator" of sorts, taking control of the troops and making executive decisions that included uniform changes.

"When I came, Georgia had gone through a very difficult time in a lot of ways, both on the field and off the field," Dooley said. "I felt like there probably needed to be change in a lot of ways, and so I decided to change the uniform."

One of those executive decisions included scrapping the celebrated silver britches to side with cleaner, more sophisticated white pants.

"I did away with the silver britches because I didn't like the cheer that was coming from, at the time, the students," Dooley said. "They'd say, 'Go, you silver britches' but they'd say it so fast that it sounded bad."

But after 16 years, the white pants were pushed aside as Dooley made the decision to return to silver in 1980, the same year the Bulldogs brought football glory back to Athens.

"I decided to bring back the silver britches because there was enough time passed that (the cheer had gone away). So I brought them back, the year we won the national championship," Dooley said.

The silver britches are a point of tradition for Bulldog fans. They bring out a certain nostalgic tone, taking them back to when the stadium, the crowds and the following for Georgia football were all smaller.

"Everyone dressed up in their fineries (for football games); girls wore their dresses, heels and furs," said Rosemary Gerard, who was a freshman at Georgia in 1953. "It was no different form the standpoint of the uniforms. (The silver britches) was all we knew, and it was Georgia tradition."

The thought of substituting the silver for red or even black pants now, like Dooley experimented with in the '80s, does not sit well with players and coaches.

"That's one thing I've told the guys, we're 'silver britches,'" head coach Mark Richt said.

Senior wide receiver Kenneth Harris cannot get a visual on wearing red or black britches.

"(This team has) never had them. I think the silver britches are tradition and around here, we're big on tradition, so I'd like to keep it with the silver pants," said Harris.

While the football pants of Georgia have seen different colors and cuts, the Georgia helmet has held the same basic style of a black, oval "G" on a red helmet since it was redesigned in 1963. That year, Dooley engaged the artistic talents of Anne Donaldson to design a fresh emblem to decorate the helmet to replace the block "G" that existed before that time.

"The main thing about the G (she designed), it was forward looking, but the colors of black on white on red, I heard someone say that they're the most harmonious colors in existence," said Dooley.

But because the "G" design resembled the Green Bay Packers "G", a phone call had to be made. After being granted permission to use the "G," the new helmet was created and is now a recognizable uniform attribute.

Slight changes to the helmet over the years have come and gone, leaving a mark on a tiny piece of Georgia football uniform history. The changes made to the helmet were made more often, and yet more subtle than the changes to the rest of the uniform. Former head coach Jim Donnan attempted to incorporate two black stripes down the Georgia helmets hoping that it would tie in with the black "G."

"I had no objection to it, I thought it would look all right, I thought it'd be received OK, but it was never accepted by the fans," said Dooley.

Richt took over in 2001, and followed suit by altering the helmets once again.

"The helmet had two black stripes and one white, one down the middle, and we took away the black striping on the helmet and we added the dog bones," said Richt.

As far as color changes with helmets in the future, Harris and Richt agreed on the outlandish subject.

"A black helmet?" Richt questioned. "We're not wearing black helmets."

The Georgia red is a staple tradition from the jerseys to the helmets.

"I love the red helmet," said Harris, "I love putting on the red hat every Saturday. That's what it's all about."

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