Charles Du nameplate: Why Notre Dame CB’s name is in Chinese on Fighting Irish jersey

As Notre Dame has rolled through the College Football Playoff and advanced to Monday night’s national championship game against Ohio State, it has done so while straying ever so slightly from its traditional uniforms.

Unlike many of their peers across FBS football, the Fighting Irish don’t usually have nameplates on the back of their players’ jerseys, with the space above the number instead left blank. That changes in the postseason, though, when players begin wearing uniforms that include their last name on the back.

During Notre Dame’s three wins in the playoff this season, one name in particular has generated quite a bit of attention.

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Charles Du is a 5-foot-9, 181-pound junior cornerback who’s in his first season with the Fighting Irish. Though he has yet to appear in a game this season, the walk-on has stood out among his Notre Dame teammates during the postseason, as Du’s nameplate features his last name written out in Chinese rather than English.

Here’s a closer look at Du, his nameplate and his background:

Charles Du Notre Dame nameplate

While standing on the sideline in a sea of gold helmets and gold pants, there’s likely little about Du’s jersey that stands out. But the letters appearing above his No. 49 jersey number are unlike any in college football, at least this season.

A Beijing native, Du opted to have his name written in Chinese once Notre Dame entered postseason play.

It didn’t create widespread interest or even attention in his team’s 27-17 victory against Indiana in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, perhaps because the Irish’s dark blue jerseys featured gold letters on the nameplate, which made it more difficult for a television viewer to read them.

That changed, however, for Notre Dame’s Sugar Bowl matchup against Georgia on Jan. 2. With the Irish, the lower seed in the contest, wearing its white jerseys with dark blue numbering, Du’s Chinese last name was much easier to notice — including for ESPN’s cameras, which captured a video of Du’s jersey and posted it on social media, where it went viral.

One of the people who came across it was Antonio Brown, the mercurial former NFL wide receiver, who quote-tweeted the original post and used a racial slur to describe Du. Brown, however, did go on to call Du a “legend” and said he had a name, image and likeness deal ready for the cornerback.

Du took the gesture in stride, announcing on social media that he had signed an NIL deal with Brown (the terms of it are anyone’s guess) and that the former All-Pro’s “daily award is a sign of love and respect.”

Interestingly, Du isn’t the first FBS football player to have Chinese lettering on his jersey’s nameplate.

In 2020, Arizona State’s Jackson He became the first Chinese-born player to appear and score a touchdown in a power-conference college football game. The 5-foot-9 running back did so while wearing a jersey with his name written in his native language.

A few weeks after He’s touchdown, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta reached out to Arizona State about acquiring his jersey. The Sun Devils obliged, and He’s uniform was put on display.

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Charles Du high school

Though he was born and raised in China, Du attended high school in the United States at Robert Lewis Stevenson High School in Pebble Beach, California.

After playing high school football, Du enrolled at Notre Dame and joined the team ahead of the 2024 season as a walk-on.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Charles Du nameplate: Notre Dame CB’s name is in Chinese on jersey