South Carolina Football: SEC Should Have Allowed Wounded Warrior Jerseys

After wearing special Wounded Warrior Project jerseys during warmups for their game against Auburn on Saturday, the South Carolina Gamecocks were told by SEC officials to change into their normal home uniforms before kickoff, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

The report says that the referee and his crew decided the numbers were too difficult to read. While they don't have the same contrast as a normal jersey would, the numbers appear pretty clear in the pictures from pregame and should have been allowed by the SEC.

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Apparel maker Under Armour said that league officials expressed concern about the visibility of the numerals. The Gamecocks wore the special jerseys in warm-ups then switched to their standard home uniforms.

The Wounded Warrior jerseys will be auctioned off, with the money raised going to the project's "Believe in Heroes" campaign.

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The jerseys were meant for a good cause and similar style uniforms have been sported in the past by several teams trying to help out the project. And without being truly game-worn, they won't be able to fetch as much money at auction to help those who risked their lives for our nation.

If Under Armour expected any problems with the jerseys, they probably should have been sent to the SEC commissioner for approval ahead of time. However, since there has never been issues in the past, it probably never crossed the company's collective mind.

Both Texas Tech and South Florida are going to wear uniforms from the same collection next month, but you can bet they will have to be approved ahead of time after this misunderstanding.

There will be 36 jerseys up for bidding on the athletic website with all proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project. Although the players didn't get to wear them during game action, they still have a cool look.

Maybe each of the officials that voted against the uniforms should pledge their game check toward the cause to make up for their decision. Hopefully a lot of money can still be raised despite the unusual circumstances.

The only thing the fans learned from this entire debacle is that officials might be blind after all.