Football Zebras Wear Under Armour on Their Uniforms

Football Zebras

Referees, umpires and linesmen may not be as interesting to fans as quarterbacks or receivers, but they still command plenty of airtime during broadcasts. They are, after all, the officials who make the decisions on the field and who toss flags that can change a game. In recent years, Under Armour has been pursuing these game-day officials as clients, striking deals to outfit them with its logos on their uniforms.

The idea for black-and-white striped referee shirts dates back to the 1920s. A college football referee named Lloyd Olds is credited with inventing the stripes after players mistook his white shirt for a teammate’s jersey. He asked a local sporting goods store to create a shirt for him and his fellow referees that would have one-inch vertical stripes on the torso, paired with matching one-inch horizontal stripes on the arms. The resulting shirt became known as the zebra shirt.

Over the next several decades, high school and conference-level officials adopted the zebra shirt and it spread organically. It didn’t take long before the NFL adopted it, too.

As the league evolved, it began adding stripes to other areas of the official’s uniform. By the early 1970s, the striped shirt was everywhere. It was the only official’s shirt worn in the league for much of its existence.

While the zebra shirt is now the standard for football officials, other striped-shirt designs tried to gain popularity in the NFL and elsewhere. Eventually, though, these alternatives fell off the list and the zebra shirt remained in place.