Until Sunday afternoon at CityScape in downtown Phoenix, the patio outside the Corner restaurant has been transformed into a miniature gridiron, in order to hold replica Puppy Bowls with adoptable puppies from the Arizona Humane Society.
“That’s a flag for excessive growling gentlemen, this is a family show," said Animal Planet referee Tommy Gilmer, who is out on the field during the game to make sure the pups don’t play too dirty. “That’s another flag right there! That’s a flag for being gross.”
You might see some extra penalties on the field, because a lot of these players are new to the game. Most of them are just eight to 16 weeks old, and none of them field trained. But it’s hard not to get excited with all of the action.
Gilmer talked about which toys you can expect to see on the astroturf.
"Some brand-new squeaky footballs," he said. "And I’ve seen a squeaky frog with four orange legs. Anything that’s a squeaker really gets the pups attention."
Gilmer assured us that there’s been no tampering with the squeakers in the footballs, which is a relief, because we wouldn’t want a squeaker-gate situation to detract from the cuteness, which the puppies do get kudos for.
As shelter animals, the puppies all have ruff-to-riches stories. They’ve come to the Humane Society for different reasons, but it’s expected that all 25 of the canine athletes will be adopted thanks to the event. Of course, any potential owners will have to wait to take one home until the end of the postseason so the puppies can finish their on-field duties.
In the meantime, you can catch the action at Puppy Bowl Cafe. The next kick off, or maybe I should say toss off, is tomorrow morning at 10 and again on Sunday.
