Cal unveils Grateful Dead helmets ahead of Wake Forest game
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Cal football is honoring a set of Bay Area icons on Saturday.
In July, Cal announced a “Grateful Bears” theme for the Week 7 game against Wake Forest. Earlier this week, Cal unveiled the Grateful Dead-themed helmets the Bears will wear against the Demon Deacons.
Deadheads will appreciate the Cal logo being displayed in a classic stealie. Keeping with the Dead theme, the helmet stripe features the lightning bolt logo. The back of the helmet features the “dancing bears” (or marching bears), including a Cal bear.
⚡️⚡️⚡️ #GoBears https://t.co/roJxVwmhul
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) October 13, 2026
Introducing the Grateful Bears collaboration 🤘🐻 The intersection of music, sport, and Bay Area culture! https://t.co/UhI4Jie1ia
— Cal Athletics (@CalAthletics) October 12, 2026
Cal’s July announcement says the Grateful Bears game is to honor the Bay Area icons’ deep local roots and historic connection to the UC Berkeley campus. The band formed in 1965 and played under the Grateful Dead name until Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995, with a 50th anniversary reunion in 2015.
Even after Garcia’s death, the music never stopped, and surviving members continued to perform under various spinoff bands, including Dead & Company, The Other Ones, The Dead and Furthur, as well as numerous other projects led by Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann and the late Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. Dead & Company last performed at the GD60 celebration in San Francisco in August 2025, months before Weir’s passing in January 2026. Lesh passed in October 2024.
Cal is 3-3 on the season entering Saturday’s game against No. 21 Wake Forest, which is set for a 10:30 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN2.
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Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
