Meet the Man Who Invented Color Rush

Former Nike art director Tom Andrich provides behind-the-scenes info on how Color Rush was created, which designs were rejected, and how Nike worked with the notoriously difficult NFL.

One of my goals with Uni Watch has always been to put a human face on the design process. Because while we tend to attribute uniform designs to faceless institutions (“The NBA did this” or “Adidas did that”), the reality is that the designs are created and refined by real people, and it’s always more illuminating to hear those people’s stories than to read a corporate press release.

Case in point: You probably think that the NFL’s Color Rush program, which debuted in 2015, was created by Nike. And yeah, it was. But it was primarily the creation of one man — a guy named Tom Andrich.

If you’ve never heard of Andrich, well, neither had I until a few weeks ago. But it turns out that he was a key player for well over 30 years at Nike, where, among other things, he created the Color Rush program. He’s now retired and spends a lot of his free time doing abstract paintings, which comprise most of the content on his Instagram feed. But if you scroll down far enough, you’ll also find this post from three years ago:

I wanted to know more, so I recently got in touch with Andrich and asked to speak with him. It ended up being one of the most fascinating interviews of my career, with gobs of inside information and insights — not just about Color Rush, but about Nike’s working relationship with the NFL, and about the creative process. I know you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did.

Without further ado, here’s the transcript of the Zoom call I had with Andrich last week, edited for length and clarity.

Uni Watch: How did you end up working for Nike, how long were you there, and what was your role there?

Tom Andrich: I was born and raised in Oregon, went to school at Oregon State, and moved to Portland immediately afterwards. I got a job right away at Nike, in 1984. This sounds quaint, but they used to have their job listings posted in a three-ring binder in the lobby of their buildings. So there was a graphic design job in apparel, and I was like, “Hey, I’m a graphic design graduate.” So I applied for it, and I got hired. I was the first in-house graphic designer who was hired solely to work on apparel. I worked my entire career at Nike in apparel, up until 2021. Almost 37 years.

Tom Andrich.

UW: And by the time you left, what was your title?

Andrich: I was Art Director of Field Sport Uniforms. We had just gotten MLB a year earlier. I oversaw that. Also NCAA football uniforms and NFL. 

UW: Nike outfits the NBA as well, but you didn’t handle that?

Andrich: Basketball was a separate category, yeah.

UW: I know you were very instrumental in Color Rush, which we’ll get to in a second. But were there other high-profile designs you were involved in? Like, if you were overseeing the NFL and NCAA, then you must have had at least oversight, if not direct involvement, on a lot of team makeovers, right?

Andrich: Yes. Like you said, to varying degrees. Regarding football, they had never had a group or category that was devoted just to football. And when we signed the NFL in 2012, I was initially just overseeing NFL uniforms. That first year was pretty intense and high-level. Nike was treating it like, you know, a new baby, and all the top execs were in every meeting, and I really didn’t get to be part of some of the bigger team projects right away. Like I can’t remember going to a team presentation for the Seahawks. But my team reported to me and I’d be in sketch meetings, of course, and making comments here and there. 

UW: Maybe we can talk about some of those individual team makeovers some other time. But for today, let’s talk about Color Rush. As you just said, Nike took over the NFL contract in 2012, and Color Rush debuted in 2015. When the contract was signed, was it understood Nike would develop a new alternate uniform program for the NFL as part of the deal? Or was the deal already in effect and then the program that eventually became Color Rush was developed as a separate project?

Andrich: It was after [the contract had already started]. So after that first year in 2012, everybody was happy about it, both on the Nike side and on the NFL side. I guess I’m speaking numbers-wise. So the following year, our brand team wanted to make a pitch to them that — I don’t know what we called it, but it was similar to what you’d now call a City Connect uniform. Unique city-based uniforms for each team. We were doing those all over the place in college.