Meet the 2017 Puppy Bowl players: Photos, starting lineups
You love dogs and you love football so the Puppy Bowl returns for its 13th installment at GEICO Stadium Sunday, February 5.
This year's main event features 78 puppies from 34 rescues from all around the United States and will be separated into “Team Ruff” and “Team Fluff.”
If that many puppies is not enough to warm your heart, then the amount of coverage will have no problem in doing so. Puppy Bowl XIII festivities begin with a "Tail"gate pregame show at 2 p.m. ET before the main event kicks off at 3 p.m. ET.
(For those cat people out there, the halftime show will be performed by the Chicago Rock Cats and Kitty Gaga.)
As for the game itself, spectators as well as history should have their eyes on Alexander Hamilpup on Team Fluff, who is just 19 weeks old but proved to be young, scrappy and hungry all throughout the season. His teammate Legs will surely be one of the most inspiring storylines to follow as he has just three legs due to a crate accident yet still flashes great speed.
Team Ruff is headed by the rather wrinkly but still adorable Smooshie. The team's feel-good storyline comes from Doobert who is totally deaf but is actually in the process of learning hand signals from his owners. That's right...signal calling is coming to the Puppy Bowl.
Check out some of the dogs in the game below:
Meet the 2017 Puppy Bowl’s Sweet and Strong Starting Line Up of Shelter Pups
Alexander Hamilpup
Team: Fluff — Breed: Pomsky — Age: 19 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Beebop
Team: Ruff — Breed: Terrier Mix — Age: 16 weeks — Shelter: Stray Rescue in Missouri
Blitz
Team: Fluff — Breed: Golden Retriever — Age: 15 weeks — Shelter: Miami-Dade County Animal Services in Florida
Bo
Team: Ruff — Breed: Parson Russell Terrier Mix — Age: 15 weeks — Shelter: SPCA LA in California
Daisy
Team: Ruff — Breed: Chihuahua Mix — Age: 13 weeks — Shelter: Last Hope K9 in Massachusetts
Daphne
Team: Ruff — Breed: Pit Bull — Age: 19 weeks — Shelter: Operation Education Animal Rescue
Dawson
Team: Fluff — Breed: Jack Russell/Terrier Mix — Age: 14 weeks — Shelter: Paw Works in California
Hope
Team: Fluff — Breed: Labrador/Hound Mix — Age: 19 weeks — Shelter: Unleashed in New York
Lucky
Team: Fluff — Breed: Terrier Mix — Age: 16 weeks — Shelter: Operation Education Animal Rescue in Tennessee
Max
Team: Fluff — Breed: Pit Bull Mix — Age: 13 weeks — Shelter: Morris Animal Refuge in Pennsylvania
Nikita
Team: Fluff — Breed: Cocker Spaniel/Bichon Friese Mix — Age: 18 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Nyquist
Team: Fluff — Breed: Husky/Shepherd Mix — Age: 15 weeks — Shelter: Bonnie's Animal Rescue Kingdom in New Jersey
Oliver
Team: Fluff — Breed: Standard Poodle — Age: 12 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Panda
Team: Fluff — Breed: Sato (Puerto Rican Terrier) — Age: 18 weeks — Shelter: The Sato Project in Puerto Rico
Parfait
Team: Fluff — Breed: Yorkie/Poodle Mix — Age: 17 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Peanut
Team: Fluff — Breed: Brussels Griffon Mix — Age: 19 weeks — Shelter: Nevada SPCA in Nevada
Precious
Team: Fluff — Breed: Pit Bull Terrier Mix — Age: 15 weeks — Shelter: ASPCA NY in New York
Puddles
Team: Ruff — Breed: Cocker/Shih Tzu Mix — Age: 13 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Rory
Team: Fluff — Breed: Poodle Mix — Age: 17 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Sable
Team: Fluff — Breed: Husky/Lab Mix — Age: 13 weeks — Shelter: Animal Friends Humane Society in Ohio
Smooshie
Team: Ruff — Breed: Shar Pei — Age: 12 weeks — Shelter: Florida Little Dog Rescue in Florida
Squirt
Team: Ruff — Breed: Dachshund/Rat Terrier Mix — Age: 12 weeks — Shelter: Denver Dumb Friends League in Colorado
Striker
Team: Ruff — Breed: Miniature Pinscher/Shih Tzu Mix — Age: 18 weeks — Shelter: Operation Paws for Homes in Virginia
Sully
Team: Ruff — Breed: Spaniel Mix — Age: 12 weeks — Shelter: Humane Society Nashua in New Hampshire
Tucker
Team: Fluff — Breed: Australian Shepherd Mix — Age: 16 weeks — Shelter: Williamson County Animal Shelter in Tennessee
Wilma
Team: Fluff — Breed: Pug/Shih Tzu Mix — Age: 16 weeks — Shelter: New Life Animal Rescue in New Jersey
Winston
Team: Fluff — Breed: Australian Shepherd — Age: 14 weeks — Shelter — Double J Dog Ranch in Idaho
Woody
Team: Ruff — Breed: Blue Healer/Cattle Mix — Age: 18 weeks — Shelter: Barktown Rescue in Kentucky
The Puppy Bowl can be watched on Animal Planet.