UCF wearing helmet decals designed by local pediatric patients vs. Sam Houston State

A visit from some UCF football players to the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital has blossomed into something much bigger — and something that will spill out on the field of play this Saturday.

When UCF hosts Sam Houston State this Saturday for Week 2, the Knights will sport helmets with logos designed by patients at the children’s hospital. It’s something UCF already did for the spring game, but is revisiting for a full-on game.

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And the September date was chosen with a specific meaning, as it is pediatric cancer awareness month.

Decals designed by pediatric patients at@APHospital 🎨 pic.twitter.com/yy4Co0mt7U

— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) September 3, 2024

“We just really wanted to rbing as many eyes and as much attention to pediatric cancer awareness as we could and what better way to do that than to put the kids’ decals on the helmets,” UCF equipment manager Brad Anderson said in a video the Knights posted.

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The logos originally came to be when some of the players and pediatric patients at the Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital spent time coloring in various UCF logos. Anderson took some of those designs and UCF wore them on their helmets during the spring game.

Now, the helmet decals will be debuted during the regular season for the first time, as the Knights play to get to 2-0 against the Bearkats — and represent something far more important than a football game.

UCF’s collective has a new shirt for sale — at a rival’s expense

The UCF NIL collective, The Kingdom, is taking advantage of recent comments made by Florida head coach Billy Napier by selling a t-shirt that reads, “Rural Central Florida” in an apparent effort to troll him.

It’s a reference to the comments Napier made following Florida’s Week 1 loss to Miami. He seemed to criticize Gators fans, saying the team can’t focus on what, “Some guy in his basement saying in, you know, rural Central Florida on social media” is saying about the team.

🎥: Florida HC Billy Napier throws an insult at Gator fans during his press conference.

“If we can focus on those things and not what some guy in his basement in rural Central Florida is saying on social media, then we've got a chance to get better, right?” pic.twitter.com/V2GSV5y45s

— Geo Milian (@GeoMilian) September 2, 2024

That came at a point of major criticism for both Billy Napier and the Florida Gators program. They lost to rival Miami 41-17. With that the Gators fell to just 11-17 under him in what is now his third season in The Swamp and the outside noise is continuing to grow.