K-State Wildcats add Irish flair to football helmet ahead of Iowa State game
Kansas State football players will be wearing alternate helmets when they take the field against Iowa State in their first game of the season later this month in Dublin, Ireland.
The Wildcats have made several Irish-themed changes to their traditional silver lids in order to celebrate the upcoming trip to Europe.
The biggest change: the purple stripe that is typically found atop the helmet has been replaced by a classic Celtic knot pattern. The purple Celtic artwork is much wider than the usual stripe, so it will be impossible to miss the Irish flair.
But there are two other obvious changes on this alternate helmet. The Wildcats will wear an Irish flag sticker on the back along with another sticker of a three-leaf clover. Those stickers will join the American flag, the Big 12 logo and each player’s number on the back of every helmet.
A purple Powercat logo will grace both sides of the helmet, as usual.
As the home team in Ireland, K-State will wear its traditional uniform combination of silver pants, purple jerseys and silver helmets. But the Irish flair on their helmets will technically make it an alternate uniform.
K-State hasn’t had the best luck when wearing alternate uniforms, but the Wildcats did manage to beat Rutgers in the Rate Bowl last season while wearing white pants and white helmets. When that game was over, head coach Chris Klieman gleefully exclaimed that the Wildcats broke the curse and won while deviating from their traditional uniforms.
The Wildcats will hope a few subtle changes to their helmet will also help them start this season with a victory at 11 a.m. (Central) on August 23 when they face Iowa State in a Farmageddon rivalry game unlike any we have seen before.
This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 9:30 AM with the headline "K-State Wildcats add Irish flair to football helmet ahead of Iowa State game."