The Waterboy may not be your favorite Adam Sandler sports movie, but two decades after its release it holds up surprisingly well. That’s probably because college football is always insane, there are some odd sports cameos that make you go “oh yeah that’s right!” and it’s also extremely quoteable.
In the movie, (spoilers!) Sandler’s Bobby Boucher goes from waterboy to star linebacker on a small Cajun college football team, leading them all the way to the Bourbon Bowl against their hated rival. The Waterboy, of course, leads a comeback win after some Act Two obstacles to overcome and ends up getting the girl, too. There’s also a lot of gratuitous football violence.
Adidas is celebrating the 20 year anniversary of The Waterboy and South Central Louisiana State University’s big Bourbon Bowl win by bringing out some now-throwback merchandise to celebrate the achievement. That includes Boucher’s Mud Dogs home jersey and some other fun apparel.
Boucher’s jersey is the centerpiece of the capsule, and it’s pretty slick. Adidas partnered with Disney to make sure every detail of the jersey is authentic, right down to the home orange color and the royal blue and white neckline striping and sleeves. It also has a Bourbon Bowl patch on the left side of the chest.
The best part of the deal is that these jerseys will actually be used by a Louisiana high school football team later in the week. University Lab High School (ULAB) in Baton Rouge will wear Mud Dogs uniforms against Mentorship Academy on October 19. Adidas partnered with Riddell to apply the Mud Dogs familiar logo to modern helmet technology so the players wearing the throwback jerseys wouldn’t be stuck in 1990s technology like Boucher while still looking authentic.
Also included in the capsule is a SCLSU hat and coach’s jacket, just like the pair Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) wore on the sideline. The whole look is actually pretty damn slick.
And there is, of course, a water bottle complete with a Bobby Boucher quote to boot.
It’s a super fun nod to a now-classic film, and one that certainly has some style that fits into the modern game. The hits might not fit into today’s football, but no one would argue that the Mud Dogs didn’t look good on screen.
