Illinois high school changes logo because it looked too much like the Patriots

Sam Cooper
·College football writer

The athletic teams of Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois, are known as the Patriots. And like high schools across the country, Stevenson’s logo was a pretty familiar one.

It was almost identical to the primary logo of the New England Patriots, save for a color change and a big “S” across the Patriot’s forehead.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the school had permission from the NFL franchise to use the logo. But the students wanted a change.

The reason may not be what you expect, either. It wasn’t a particular distaste for the New England Patriots. Instead, it was a crackdown on plagiarism.

Yes, really.

From the Tribune:

The impetus for leaving the New England Patriots’ emblem behind came last summer. Conrey said there was a growing “unease” because of the similarity between Stevenson’s logo and New England’s. Stevenson had permission from New England to use a slightly altered version of the logo, but a school-wide anti-plagiarism campaign during the 2016-17 academic year brought the issue to the forefront of many students’ minds.

So the school decided to change the logo, and a group tasked to design a new one — plus a $12,000 check to a local design firm — was formed. Here’s what they came up with:

(Stevenson High School)
(Stevenson High School)

There were a lot of Michigan State fans on the design committee, evidently. Anyway, Jim Conrey, the school’s public information coordinator, told the Tribune that the three stars have special meaning:

“The stars reflect the shared commitment that students undertake at Stevenson: commitment to themselves, a commitment to others and, obviously, to learning,” Conrey said.

As for the Patriots’ uniforms, there won’t be much of a change aside from a decal switch on the football team’s helmets.

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