Back in July, I wrote about defensive line drills of the 1930s pictured in Bunny Oakes' 1932 book, Football Line Play. The story, found here, covered the Blow and Step drill and left open a question about the nature or use of the middle piece of equipment in the image below. Additional research now provides the answer to that question, but let's first look at Bernard F. "Bunny" Oakes' career.
Oakes grew up in Illinois in time to enlist in the Marines in 1917. He served with the 5th Marines in France, joining his company as a replacement partway through the Battle of Belleau Wood, and then fought in the Battle of Soissons and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. After the war and while still in Europe, he played football with the 5th Marines in the AEF tournament.
After returning to the States, he enrolled at Illinois and played guard on Bob Zuppke's 1924 national championship team while blocking for Red Grange. After graduation, he became Tennessee's line coach under Bob Neyland and two years later held the same role under Dana X. Bible at Nebraska. Working under three top coaches in four years allowed him to become Montana's head coach in 1931. He moved to Colorado in 1935, winning two Rocky Mountain and one Mountain States championships and coaching All-American Byron "Whizzer" White.
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