Oregon football Week 2 uniforms designed by cancer survivors

The Oregon Ducks football program will be wearing jerseys designed by cancer survivors for an early game this season.

When Oregon faces off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on September 9, they will be donning uniforms created by three cancer survivors from OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. This is a local pediatric hospital in Portland, Oregon.

The jerseys contain motivational slogans personal to the three children dealing with the disease. The gloves include Oregon’s mascot kicking cancer down. The second “O” in Oregon is comprised of a cancer ribbon.

According to ESPN’s Jake Trotter, Paul Sullivan, University of Oregon art director for Nike said, “It was really mind-blowing to think of all the unique creativity that they each have. Some of the stuff they brought to the table was like, ‘Wow, I never thought of that before.'”

The three kids that designed the uniforms were Joe MacDonald (14 years old), Sophia Malinoski (10) and Ethan Frank (13). Each child was matched with a current Oregon football player to design a certain part of the uniform. MacDonald was paired Justin Hollins, a defensive lineman, to design the cleats, tights, and socks. He suffers from Britt Leukemia. Malinoski teamed up with offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby to create the helmet and aforementioned duck logo. Malinoski is currently dealing with a brain tumor. Frank worked with Khalil Oliver, a member of the team’s secondary, to design the jersey and pants. Together, they came up with the slogan, “win the day, win the fight.”

The school will begin selling merchandise related to the initiative on September 4. All proceeds from sales will go to the pediatric cancer fund at the hospital where the children are treated.

Since Oregon’s jerseys are white, Nebraska is forced to wear red on the road for the first time in more than 40 years. In 1976, they wore red in Baton Rouge in a 6-6 tie against Louisiana State University.