The Winning Shot

The Carolina Panthers were 9 point underdogs going into Sunday's game against the Chargers. In case you hadn't heard, star wide receiver Steve Smith was suspended by the team for punching a teammate in the face during training camp. Although he professed deep regret, he received a two game suspension. Smith, of course, is one of the top receivers in the NFL, and Panther quarterback Jake Delhomme has a connection with him that produces big results. No one I listen to on a regular basis was picking the Panthers to win--except me. I have been shooting the Panthers for four years, and what I saw during the preseason was plenty to convince me they are back on track for a stellar year. Unlike the guys, I pay a lot of attention to the demeanor of the players as they mill around on the sidelines. I pay attention to how they interact with each other between plays. True, your team has to have talent, but talent is pretty evenly spread in the NFL. When it comes down to it, chemistry is the defining element of a winning team. The New England Patriots have it consistently, and that is why they are perennial winners. The more showboats a team has, the lower the chemistry index. The Patriots have no showboats--not even Tom Brady. He's a terrific player, but he isn't in everyone's face telling people how good he is. Anyway, back to Sunday's game. The Panthers have the chemistry this year. I had a good feeling about the game despite Smith's absence. Jake is throwing well after his elbow surgery, and the Panthers have filled a lot of holes from last season. They faces are animated, and there is electricity on the bench throughout the game.

The game was a defensive battle. The Chargers kept the Panthers out of the endzone four times when the Panthers were threatening. The first time, the Panthers could have fallen forward and gotten a touchdown, but for some reason, a pass play was called. They were stopped on the one foot line. Fast forward to the end of the game. The Chargers scored a touchdown to put them ahead with only two minutes left to go in the game. The Panthers started the two-minute drive on their own 20 yard line. I had been scrambling around all day trying to keep ahead of the action. When you shoot football, for the most part, you try to get in front of the team so you can get the faces of the offense. I ran down into the endzone because I figured if there was going to be a spectacular, game winning play, it would have to be in the endzone. The Panthers were down by five points, so a field goal wasn't going to do it. I positioned myself just to the right side of the goal post so I could get a good shot of any pass play. I was surrounded by photographers from USA Today, Sports Illustrated, the Associated Press and a myriad of wire agencies and newspapers.

The Panthers marched down the field quickly, but they were running out of time. I threw down my long lens and picked up a shorter zoom. I wanted to be prepared for a pass play into the endzone, and the long lens would have been too much. With two seconds left to go, we all knew the last play was a "do or die." As the play started to unfold, I saw Delhomme dropping back to pass and instantly I whipped my camera around to the area where he was looking. I only saw one receiver open, and he was only about 10 yards from where I was kneeling. I focused my camera on that receiver, and boom, I saw him go up and grab the ball. I was firing away as he went up for the ball. I knew I had it timed perfectly; but I didn't know whether the camera's focus had locked in quickly enough.

When the receiver, Dante Rosario, came down with the ball, I was unaware of anything except the silence in the stadium. I distinctly heard the PA announcer say, "and that is the end of the ballgame." Suddenly, all chaos broke out in the endzone. The entire Panther team dogpiled on Rosario. It was the most emotional celebration I had seen from that team, even more than winning the NFC championship. It was amazing.

Back in the photo work room, the photographers were all huddled over their computers editing their photos and comparing notes about who got "the shot." I don't really do that. I keep to myself and am my own worst critic. However, when I pulled up the shot of the pass play at the end of the game, my hands were trembling. I was praying that it was in focus, but I didn't know. The first one in the series was out of focus--badly. The camera takes a fraction of a second to lock onto the subject, so it hadn't locked in yet. The next shot was also out of focus. Fortunately, I had started firing before the ball got to him, so by the time the ball actually hit his hands, the camera had locked in. I was pretty excited that the true "peak action" shot was razor sharp.