ProCase Sports

The next day we all got ready and headed to the Miami Dolphin’s stadium. I remember thinking about my last visit to that same stadium seven years ago for the Dan Marino retirement ceremony. It rained during that entire game! Luckily, the weather was fine as we waited in line for about an hour. I have never seen longer lines for security, but by the time we got through them, I started to feel a few raindrops. Here we go again with this stadium. The rain started and never stopped throughout the whole game!

I made my way to my seat which was only a few rows up from the field in the endzone. I was wondering who I would be sitting next to. When the fan next to me sat down, I swore it was Patrick Mannelly sitting next to me. I introduced myself to him and found out it was Patrick’s brother, they sure looked alike. I thought it was really cool I had someone sitting next to me that I felt comfortable with.

I had brought a camera with me with a small lens because I thought I could get a cool shot of the stadium during the kickoff with all the flashes from everyone’s cameras going off. After I take that picture, I was going to put my camera away to protect it from the rain and enjoy watching the rest of the Super Bowl.

The Bears were going to receive the kickoff to start the game, and they were heading towards my endzone. It was all set up for a great shot. I just had to make sure I was in focus! Adam Vinatieri set the ball on the tee, and the Indianapolis Colts were ready to kick off to start the game. From my endzone, I had a great angle of the entire stadium in my shot. Once the ball was in the air, I could see all the flashes from everyone’s cameras through the viewfinder of my camera. All of a sudden, I saw the play develop and Devin Hester broke through everyone on the field! Devin’s path in front of him was wide open, and he was running right at me!

I kept shooting Devin all the way into my endzone. Devin did it again, he returned the kick-off for a touchdown, and it was on the biggest stage he could do it! I hade the entire sequence of the play from when Devin caught the ball, to him diving over the goal line. If I had been standing on the sidelines, I would’ve never got that shot! Looking back at the photos I took of that play, you see all twenty-two players on the field, with Adam Vinatieri laying on the ground with his face in the turf. I’ve been told by many people that my shot is the best shot they’ve ever seen of that record-breaking play.

I knew Devin Hester personally, so a few months later I ended up framing his jersey along with all of his equipment in that case including his shoes, socks, jersey, and a bunch of other things he wanted in the case. I also did a private signing with Devin to sign the Super Bowl shot I printed. The Bears convention was approaching shortly after that, so I thought I’d frame ten of my shots, and bring them to the convention. My wife suggested that I frame twenty of them, so I decided to add those numbers together, and brought thirty of them instead. All of the frames sold on the very first day of the convention!

I remember the moments when I thought I wasn’t even going to the game! The Bear’s chaplain gave me his ticket twenty-four hours before the game started. That ticket just happened to place me in the exact spot that Devin ran to. Nobody can deny that somebody had that all planned out for me!

All I had to do was make sure my camera was in focus!