"Higher Education" by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge

Higher Education

In this very rare print, Coolidge portrays a pack of dogs fighting it out on a football field, which looks oddly like an Elizabethan theater. Based on the title, I assume these are collegiate canines, especially since the NFL's precursor was not popular in Coolidge's era. Although a dog's paw can grip a poker card, it apparently can not carry a football, and the dog uses his mouth to move the pigskin.

The footpawball players are very aggressive. The leading bulldog blocker confronts a dog much bigger than himself. Wrestling and biting is transpiring in the pile of pooches, with no yellow flags in sight. Hopefully those leather helmets are providing protection.