It’s not every day you get to spend your 40th birthday on the sidelines of an NFL game. And it’s not every day that game goes from a laugher to a thriller in overtime where the Dolphins beat the Bengals 38-35, but I’ll take. Any day on the sidelines photographing the NFL is a great day.
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.
One of the perks working as an NFL photographer is that sometimes you get the chance to photograph your favorite team and player. Lucky for me my favorite team is the New England Patriots and my favorite player is Tom Brady and they come to Miami every year. With the Miracle in Miami happening last year, New England came to Hard Rock Stadium looking for revenge and got it when the Patriots shut out the Dolphins 43-0.
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.
When the hot summer days of July lead into August that can only mean one thing; the 2019 NFL preseason games have arrived. Granted these preseason games are meaningless standing wise and are only used to evaluate the talent on a team, but it also means football is back. And with the 2019 NFL preseason underway that means the NFL regular season is just a few weeks away.
Working as a NFL photographer was a dream come true. I can remember the phone call when the NFL called offering me the chance to be a photographer for them for the 2018 season. I still can’t believe I’m an NFL photographer, but I’m enjoying every moment of it.
Even as I write this, I still can’t believe the Miami Dolphins completed the Miracle in Miami. With seven seconds left in the game against their AFC East rival the New England Patriots, the Dolphins executed a hook and ladder play lateraling the ball back between players and it worked. They scored as time expired beating their rivals and thus dubbing the ending of the game as the Miracle in Miami.
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.
Not every NFL game I photograph is going to be an offensive onslaught of touchdowns and highlight reel catches and I get this. But when the Dolphins beat the Jets in a defensive battle, I wasn’t aware that either offense was going to show up. I’m not sure they even showed up to the stadium.