Adidas unveiled today its Dark Ops Collection, a series of football cleats inspired by the elite forces of the U.S. military. The cleats will make their debut on the field on Oct. 29 when Arizona State University wears them to face takes on the University of Oregon, marking the start of the Sun Devils’ annual weeklong initiative “Salute to Service,” honoring active duty members and veterans.
The cleats also draw inspiration from the late Pat Tillman, a former Sun Devils player, who left his pro team, the Arizona Cardinals, to serve in the U.S. Army. Tillman was killed while serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan in 2004.
The cleats in the collection are the 2016 Adizero 5-Star 5.0 x Kevlar and the Freak x Kevlar. The cleats will be available Oct. 29 via the Adidas website and Eastbay.com with retail prices of $120 and $149, respectively.
The cleats, built for speed and optimal performance on the gridiron, uses the green, tan and black colors found in U.S. Army uniforms. To pay homage to Tillman and the Pat Tillman Foundation, the shoes feature the “PT-42” badge logo on the top of the tongue, and the shoe features additional Army-inspired detailing with the camouflage sock liner with gold Adidas Football logo, which represents the gold outline of the U.S Army Rangers patch and U.S. flag patch.
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The 2016 Adizero 5-Star 5.0 x Kevlar features an upper made from durable, flexible canvas. Kevlar is featured in the stitching and a plate in the 5-Star Frame. The 2016 Freak x Kevlar also features a durable, flexible canvas upper and a tunable lacing system for a fit tailored to the player’s foot. As with the 2016 Adizero 5-Star 5.0 x Kevlar, the Freak features Kevlar in the stitching and a plate in the 5-Star Frame.
