Capturing RG3
2012-01-27
By Greg Tepper // TexasFootball.com
The secret is out.
Yesterday, on TexasFootball.com, we revealed the cover of the 2012 Winter Edition of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine, which is available in the TexasFootball.com Store right now. The coverboy is Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, and I can't say there was much debate as to the choice: as one of just seven Texas college players to win the Heisman Trophy, he's established himself among the true legends of Texas football.
But the cover image -- which you can see here if you missed it -- is only part of the story. Today, we'll let you take a peek behind the scenes of our photo shoot with Robert Griffin III.
The crew assembled in Waco on the morning of December 21st at the beautiful Simpson Athletics and Academic Center on the campus of Baylor University. Included in the group: DCTF executive director Adam Hochfelder, DCTF managing editor Travis Stewart, photographer Diana Porter and her crew, and myself. We were soon ushered upstairs to one of the meeting rooms, where we set about turning the room -- usually for position meetings and occasional team meals -- into a photo studio.
After we had set up the room, in rolled a steel box, complete with lock and key, being transported on a dolly by a member of the Baylor athletic department. He cracked open the box and, sure enough, there was the familiar silhouette of the Heisman Trophy.
From here, I'll let the pictures tell most of the tale.
Managing editor Travis Stewart played the role of RGIII before the man himself arrived.
Sure enough, the Heisman Trust spelled RGIII's name correctly on his trophy, which weighs almost 50 pounds.
After we had the shots we wanted set up, in came the man himself -- Robert Griffin III -- and after some brief introductions, our photographer Diana got straight to work.
We tried a variety of different poses and angles with Griffin, who was very open to our requests.
One of the key things we wanted in this image was the Robert Griffin III smile; we felt that one of the things that made Griffin so recognizable was his big smile, and though it goes against the common wisdom of the "tough guy" look for football players, we wanted that to play prominently on the cover.
And for those who are wondering: Robert Griffin III is an exceptionally polite young man. It was "sir" and "ma'am" all the way with everyone.
And that includes, of course, the man himself...
Our esteemed editor-in-chief and founder Dave Campbell came by during the middle of the photo shoot, and we couldn't resist getting a few photos of two Texas legends together.
After the shoot -- which lasted about 20 minutes -- we had a brief opportunity to chat with Griffin, and our managing editor couldn't help asking him about his days at Copperas Cove.
And, of course, our editor-in-chief had plenty of questions for the Heisman Trophy winner, but he saved many of them for their exclusive interview a couple of days later, which was the foundation for Mr. Campbell's cover story feature in the Winter Edition.
So there you have it! A special thanks to the entire Baylor athletic department, to photographer Diana Porter and her crew, and to Robert Griffin III for helping to compose a striking image that is now truly part of history.
