A barking quarterback, half-time locker room shenanigans, and plenty of trick plays and unnecessary roughness weigh heavily in this tongue-in-cheek look at college football—”a character-building game,” as it’s called. “The team is working like a well-oiled machine,” declares the narrator at one point, referring to Taxidermy Tech, but that call is perhaps a bit optimistic amid the fumbles and colorful hijinks shown here. So even though it’s been nearly 70 years since this short’s release on September 15, 1944, the very goofy How to Play Football captures the spirit and complexity of the sport and the essence of why it is still so popular today… and so much fun to watch.
By D23′s David Sokol
