Judge, 1889-11-30 · page 18 of 18
Judge — November 30, 1889 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This cartoon satirizes the violence in college football by contrasting it with street fighting. The image shows two figures: a well-dressed man (likely representing a college athlete or administrator) in the upper portion, and below him, a rough street character identified as "John L." — appearing to reference John L. Sullivan, the famous bare-knuckle boxer. The joke mocks college football as being indistinguishable from common street brawling. Sullivan's character suggests that if the brutality on the football field counts as "education," then he—a professional fighter—should be qualified to teach at Yale, implying college football is no more respectable or educational than street violence. This reflects Progressive-era concerns about football's dangerous physicality and the contradiction between its promotion in prestigious universities and its similarity to lower-class fighting.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
E io) o n x ° fo) 2 2 E io) cs) aes ‘Sackett Wuhelms Litho Co New York A SLUGGER’S COMMENT ON COLLEGE FOOT-BALL. Joun L.—“If that kind! of work: is eddication, young feller, I orter be a perfesher at Yale, m’self.”