Raise your hands if you thought it would be in week 9 of the NFL season that the Miami Dolphins would finally get their first win? Keep your hands raised if you thought the one win Jets were going to pull it out a win? It’s been a crazy season, but when the Miami Dolphins beat the NY Jets, it left only the Cincinnati Bengals as the only team in the NFL without a win.
Under the blistering Miami sun, the NFL Kickoff Weekend for the Miami Dolphins was anything but bright and sunny. The Baltimore Ravens flew into Hard Rock Stadium and pecked at the Dolphins to the score of 59-10. By the end of the game people were wondering what was hotter, the sun or Lamar Jackson. Both scorched the Dolphins to begin the NFL Kickoff weekend for both teams.
On a warm December day at Hard Rock Stadium, the Miami Dolphins beat the Bills keeping their playoff hopes alive for another week in an AFC East battle. Unlike the Miami vs. Jets game, there was plenty of action and touchdowns with this game. Something a sports photographer me likes a lot.
There are some games I photograph that go my way and others, not so much.The Detroit Lions victory of the Dolphins went my way. I won’t lie it was probably my best game of the season. So much so that my photos are plastered all over the social media accounts of the Detroit Lions.
It’s been an interesting season so far for me shooting for the NFL. I already photographed the longest game in NFL history and I photographed an unbearable hot game against Oakland. Now I had the opportunity to photograph an overtime game where the Miami Dolphins beat the Chicago Bears in overtime.
There were no NFL records this time with the Miami Dolphins victory over the Oakland Raiders at Hard Rock Stadium. There was though an abundance of merciless heat and sun. The field temp was well over 100 degrees and without the slightest of breezes, you felt every degree of that hot temperature.
When you think of being part of NFL history, you think of most Super Bowl Wins or most touchdowns caught. Never did I imagine that in Week 1 of the 2018 NFL season that I would be part of the longest game in NFL history between the Miami Dolphins and the Tennessee Titans. 7 hours and 10 minutes; that was how long the game was that I was a NFL photographer for.
The December night air was brisk and teeming with anticipation. The scent of different meats cooking on open flames engrossed the stadium parking lots. A sea of red, blue, teal and orange jerseys converged on Hard Rock Stadium; here to witness the impending battle of two NFL teams that harkens back to the old, Roman gladiator days. Monday night football has it’s own unique aura about it. It’s own mystique where legends and heroes are created. And then there is me, a sports photographer photographing the Patriots, my hometown team, against the Miami Dolphins for Monday night supremacy.
Walking into Hard Rock Stadium prior to the game felt different from other games. Maybe it was the Sunday Night Football vibe with their makeshift set sitting on the sidelines waiting for Mike Tirico, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth to occupy. Or it could be the number of fans dressed in black and as pirates waiting for the team to run onto the field for warmups so they can cheer passionately. Either way, there is no better way to end a Sunday than with a game featuring the Dolphins vs Raiders.