It's pretty common for teams to wear special uniforms for rivalry games -- actually, these days, it's common for teams to wear "special" uniforms any old week, with weekly changes made to draw in college kids attracted to shiny objects. But for four straight years, Holy Cross broke out a "new" uniform for its annual rivalry game with Boston College, which was right up there with Harvard-Yale as a Really Big Deal on the New England football calendar.
In '63, it was the return of silver helmets and pants after a years-long absence:
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| The first two pictures are from The Crusader newspaper, despite the Worcester Telegram credit in photo No. 2. No. 3 is from BC's Sub Turri yearbook, and No. 4 is from the Cross' Purple Patcher yearbook. |
In '64, numbers appeared on the helmets after wearing blank sides most of the season (except for one game when the purple lids made a comeback):
In '65, a tiny "HC" logo appeared on the helmets. A larger version returned in '67 and made another comeback a couple years ago:
And in '66, for whatever reason, the purple helmet stripe was removed. Yeah, I'm sure that was the hot topic that day at Alumni Stadium, too:
Did it work? Eh, sort of. The Crusaders were 2-2 against BC in the four games, then didn't beat the Eagles again until 1977.
In addition to the helmets, check out the other wrinkles in the Saders' unis, including purple pants and short-sleeved shirts for warm-weather games. If it weren't for the in-depth coverage from The Crusader and the accompanying online archive, I'd be beyond lost here.
Want more from Holy Cross? Look here: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2004-08, 1992, 1986-91, 1973-74, 1972, 1971, 1967-70, 1956-59, 1951-55. Rivalry Week: Boston College-Holy Cross.
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