CHICAGO — For many, Big Ten Media Days was the first chance to see Gophers football players Mitch Leidner, David Cobb and Cedric Thompson up close.
The trio engaged in numerous interviews throughout the two days, but they also had a chance to express themselves nonverbally: through their fashion.
Senior safety Cedric Thompson
For Thompson, the event was the first time he wore a suit.
“I hate wearing them. They feel so stiff,” he said.
On the second day, Thompson accented his suit with a maroon and white diagonal striped tie, complemented by a matching pocket square.
“I just wanted to wear a tie for the first time. That’s what I was excited for,” Thompson said.
But tying the tie itself wasn’t so easy.
“I tried [Monday], and I just gave up,” he said. “I just said, ‘I need somebody to do it,’ but I need to learn if I’m going [to] start doing stuff like this. I’m going to start practicing pretty soon.”
His matching pocket square also gave him some trouble.
“I didn’t even know how to fold [it]. I just crumpled it up and put it in there,” he said.
Thompson opted for maroon, saying gold wasn’t “really his thing.”
“I don’t know anything about color combinations or anything like that, so [my girlfriend and I] just went shopping, and she did all the colors and I just did what she said,” Thompson said. “I said, ‘You just pick it and I’ll wear it.’”
Quarterback Mitch Leidner
Unlike his teammates, Leidner opted for a lavender shirt on Tuesday instead of choosing school colors.
Leidner also had help with his outfit, heading to Men’s Wearhouse with his mother and girlfriend
He said he mainly listened to the salesperson when it came to picking his outfit.
“[He] just kind of hooked me up,” Leidner said. “He’s like, ‘I think a bowtie would look great on you and suspenders,’ so I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Leidner turned to YouTube to learn how to tie his bowtie, which — at the advice of the salesperson — had a purple paisley pattern.
Though Leidner said he usually just throws clothes on, he said it was exciting to buy his first suit.
Leidner said Cobb was a “pretty fashionable guy” but said his teammate was jealous of his look.
“His suit looks okay,” Leidner said. “He’s got that clip-on bowtie, though. That’s fake. That’s fake.”
Running back David Cobb
Cobb showed up to Media Days dressed to impress.
By all accounts, Cobb was the most fashion-forward of the three Gophers at Media Days.
“I’m a big guy on fashion,” he said. “I tell Mitch [Leidner] all the time, ‘You’ve gotta have swag, man.’ You look good, you feel good.”
On Tuesday, Cobb paired a black suede jacket with Calvin Klein khakis and sported a maroon shirt with a gold bowtie and pocket square.
He said his grandfather bought him his brown loafers with tassels just for the event.
“My grand-dad really wanted me to have these shoes. I don’t know how much they cost him, but he really wanted me to have these for some reason,” he said.
Cobb’s suede jacket was a gift from his grandfather a couple of months ago.
“[I’ve] never worn it. [I] put it together and said, ‘Hey, I might wear this.’ And I woke up this morning and put it on,” Cobb said.
Cobb wore checkered socks on Tuesday, but he said his favorite pair has a black and yellow Superman pattern.