Best Shots: The Greatest NFL Photography of the Century

168 Pages·1999·32.1 MB·English

by  Joe Namath

THE GREATEST NFL PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE CENTURY
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FOREWORD NAMATH
BY JOE
USA
$30.00
SHOTS
BEST
THE GREATEST NFL PHOTOGRAPHY
OF THE CENTURY
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kro football is a game of ckoreographed
chaos, blurred brush strokes across a
bright green canvas. It is 22 athletes springing ^H
into action in the performance of 22 distinct
tasks.Acentersnapstheball,atackleblocksan
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end, a linebacker' charges, and a guard pulls, V 1'•- -V^S,
while a quarterback pivots to hand the football .•". •: •» '^..' '^^^^^k
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Pro football is a game ofadrenaline and emo-
tion, a battle ofwills and might. It gives us he-
roesandgoats,joyanddespair,broadsmilesand
damp eyes. It tests players' nerves, unveils
their strengths, and, sometimes, exposes their
shortcomings.
And pro football does one other thing better
thaiiany other sport. It produces the most cap-
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You stillxan firid Vittce irdi frozen
time, eyes forward and hands clasped, as his
grim-facedGreenBay Packerstakethefieldbe-
forethe 1966NFLChampionship Game. Walter
Paytoniscaughtforeverinmid-flight,hurdlinga
sprawled defender, while scanning the defense
forg^ch^fialiyafiUEoreyardage.JohnnyUnitas
n 1958, arm
\ocked and receiver targeted; a^the New York
Giants try tobreak through Hist^^otection. And
JackLambert, snarling, glares outfrom a caged
helmet, teeth missing, eyesablaze.
Photographers^hayeprowtedt)rc)footballside-
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BEST
SHOTS
THE GREATEST NFL PHOTOGRAPHY
OF THE CENTURY
Foreword by
Namath
Joe
DK PUBLISHING
www.dk.com
N ASSOCIATION WITH THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
NFL Properties Publishing Group
3
t
SHOTS
BEST
THE GREATEST NFL PHOTOGRAPHY OF THE CENTURY
ADK PUBLISHINGBOOK ProducedbyNational Football League Properties, Inc.
www.dk.com PublishingDivision
6701 CenterDriveWest, Suite 1111
FirstAmerican Edition, 1999 LosAngeles, California 90045
987654321
10
Editor-in-Chief:JohnWiebusch
Publishedinthe UnitedStatesby GeneralManager: Bill Barron
DKPublishing, Inc. ManagingEditor: Chuck Garrity, Sr
95MadisonAvenue BestShots Editor: Tom Barnidge
NewYork, NewYork 10016 BestShots ExecutiveArtDirector: BradJansen
AssociateArt Director: EvelynJavier
Copyright © 1999 DorlingKindersleyLimitedandNational Football Director-PhotoServices: Paul Spinelli
League Properties, Inc.All rightsreservedunderInternationaland PhotoEditor: KevinTerrell
Pan-American Copyright Conventions.Nopartofthisbookmaybe Manager-PhotoServices: TinaResnick
reproduced, stored inaretrieval system, ortransmittedin anyform Director-Manufacturing: Dick Falk
orbyanymeans, electronic ormechanical, photocopying, recording, Director-PrintServices: Tina Dahl
orotherwise, withoutthewrittenpermissionofthepubhsher. Publishing Director: Bob O'Keefe
PublishingManager: Lori Quenneville
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data DKEditor: Alrica Green
Bestshots : thegreatestNFLphotographyofthe century. -- 1st Printedin HongKongbySouth Seas.
Americaned.
p. cm. DKPublishingbooksare availableat specialdiscountsforbulkpur-
"InassociationwiththeNational Football League." chasesforsalespromotionsorpremiums. Specialeditions, including
ISBN0-7894-4639-1 (alk. paper) personalizedcovers, excerpts ofexistingguides, andcorporate im-
1. National Football League Pictorialworks. I. DKPublishing. prints canbecreated in large quantitiesforspecificneeds. Formore
Inc. II.National Football League. III. Title: GreatestNFL information, contactSpecial Markets Dept./DK Publishing, Inc./95
photographyofthecentury. MadisonAvenue/NewYork, NewYork 10016/Fax: [phone].
GV955.5.N35B47 1999
796.332'64'0973-dc21 99-23273
CIP
ISBN0-7894-4639-1
BEAR ON THE LOOSE VICTORY LAP MAN OF STEEL
(Page (Pages 2-3i The gap-toothed visage of
1 )
no hurdle was too high for walter Lester Hayes of the Raiders JACK LAMBERT GREETED STEELERS'
Payton of the Chicago Bears had the world at his feet opponents in the 1970s.
PHOTOGRAPH BY AL MESSERSCHM DT 1979 Photograph BY Jim Chaffin, 1984. Photograph by Tony Tomsic. 1978.
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FOREWORD
WONDERFUL
MEMORIES
Namath
By Joe
When
I look at photographs of myself from my days we had at Shea Stadium, when the baseball infield was
—
playing days and, believe me, every former there and the wind was howling. Man, I'm telling you it could
—
athlete does I always pay special attention to getcoldinthat stadium. Andthe dirtwouldbeflying. Believe it
myform. I have myfavoritepictures, andwhen I see them I get or not, we were all hopeful that artificial turf would be intro-
tickled with the technique I used. duced because playing at Shea was so difficult. For one thing,
In one ofmy favorite photos, I'm throwing ajump pass. Now the field was not level. I remember when the Mets won the
I'm looking atJack Kemp throwingajumppass onpage 29, and WorldSeriesin 1969, andthefanstore upthatfield. Andwe had
I think that's a marvelous bit ofform. He has his balance, even tocomebackandplayon the same field. You'dthink inprofoot-
though he's in the air. I seeJackie in that picture, and I think of ball, you wouldn't have to worry about stepping in holes and
Jackietodayandwhathe'sbeenthroughafterfootball, andIjust twistingyourankle.
get tickled seeing him do this. Not all my memories go back to my playing days. I have re-
It's all about the memories, isn't it? You look at a picture, and mained a big fan ofthe game, and many of my favorite players
it recalls a memory that generates a similar feeling now. Or are the guys stillplayingtoday. Take a look at Barr\^Sanders on
maybe it's a different feeling, but it's enough to get your blood page 70.Just look at his feet, his legs, his body movement, his
—
flowing. motion how his body weight is leaning so hard to one side.
There's a player on page 30, Ben Davidson of the Raiders, Look at that right foot ofhisi And he's still going at full speed,
who is putting a choke hold on Bob Griese. "Gentle Ben" was you know, he's not falling down. I mean, he's exploding some-
everything but. I tell you, playing the Raiders was always spe- where. I just think that's a great demonstration of what Barry
—
cial even if they sometimes went to unnecessary lengths to Sanders is capable ofdoing.
gettheupperhand.MycoachwiththeJets, WeebEwbank,once Sometimes when I look at the photos, I get more ofa general
sent our equipment manager up to the top of Shea Stadium, sensation than a specific memory.
There was a guy sitting up there, and Coach Ewbank swore it For example, it's remarkable to see the positions different
was Al Davis, the Raiders' owner. According toWeeb, Al would players get into during the heat of battle. I'm thinking ofpage
doanythingtogetonhisnerves, andtodistractus. Butthemain 110, with those Dolphinslinebackersall stretchedout, tryingto
reason those games were special was that the Raiders were reach the ball carrier.
always such a good team overthe years. I tell you, the body wasn't designed for this game. We keep
Nowlookatpage 140. Thatpicture remindsmeofsomeofthe trying to redesign the body to strengthen it and make it bigger