Historical Hounds-Football and Bulldogs

English bulldogs have long been associated with Football.  Very early photos of American football teams show dogs seated with the players

This photo of a turn of the century team shows a Bull Terrier type dog seated on a players lap.   Dogs as mascots for college sports teams became popular in the late 1800s.  Handsome Dan:

a bulldog owned by Andrew B. Graves became the mascot for Yale University sports team when he began following his owner to sporting events and became a popular fixture in the stands.

The most famous dog and team association occurred later with the University of Georgia.    The original University of Georgia mascot was a goat, but in 1894 a white bull terrier named Trilby owned by a student began spending time with the team and enjoyed catching footballs thrown by the students.  She quickly became the teams mascot and may have began the teams association with bully breeds and white dogs.

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After Trilby a wide variety of dogs served as University of Georgia mascots, sometimes changing from game to game.  Then in 1944 a local physician began attending University football games with his brindle and white bulldog, Mr. Angel. 

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 Angel enjoyed meeting players and spectators alike and became the teams mascot from 1944-46, cementing the teams association with English bulldogs.  Mr. Angel's reign was followed by English bulldogs Butch and Mike.  Then in 1955 the current UGA line became with UGA I "Hoods Ole Dan" who attended games in a red jersey.

Since UGA I there have been 9 UGAs, all white English bulldogs.  Concerns about the health of the line have been raised as UGA 7 died of a heart complication and UGA 8 died of lymphoma.  The UGA's receive excellent veterinary care and spend games in a climate controlled dog house, due to the breeds tendency to over heat.  The current UGA, known as Russ, has served as mascot since 2012 and has many fans.

While I'm not a football fan, Im obviously a bulldog fan thanks to my darling Bob:

So if I was going to root for a team it would definitely be Georgia.