Gaudy uniforms bother fans a lot more than players

Perhaps no Notre Dame player has his finger on the pulse of Notre Dame fans quite like Louis Nix III, Twitter icon and Facebook discussion enthusiast. And the star and director of YouTube’s “Chocolate News” knows exactly what most of you think about the gaudy uniforms the Irish will be wearing Saturday against Miami at Soldier Field.

“Knute Rockne is rolling over in his grave and all that type of stuff,” Nix said.

Here’s the thing, though: “I like them personally, and I don’t care much about people’s opinions,” Nix said. “I’ve got to play in them, and I enjoy them. I think it’s a good change-up. It’s like once a year. It’s not really a big deal to me. I think they’re real nice and I can’t wait to play in them.”

The off-center, two-tone helmet with the oversized, forward-facing leprechaun seems to have drawn the most ire from Irish fans. Of course, the uniforms are for the younger generation — the ones that can’t get enough of Oregon’s day-glo unis, for example — not the older set.

But frankly, even most of Notre Dame’s players offered up a collective shrug.

“The uniforms, really, I don’t really care what I put on,” cornerback Bennett Jackson said. “It doesn’t really bother me much.”

Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore agreed.

“I’m not a big uniform guy,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of different uniforms. I’m just ready to play.”

But when a reporter suggested that maybe Lewis-Moore found them as over-the-top as many fans do, the captain quickly went into damage-control mode, like any good politician would.

“I think they’re nice,” he quickly said. “They’re real nice jerseys.”

And the helmets?

“Helmets are nice, too,” he said with a wry smile. “I like the helmets.”

The way coach Brian Kelly sees it, Halloween simply is coming a little early for his football team.

“I love them,” receiver Robby Toma said. “Me and Coach were talking earlier. He said October’s the month when kids get to dress up. So it’s our one time to dress up and we’re going to enjoy it.”