After Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green's mind-blowingly awesome game last week against Arizona State (8 catches for 153 yards and a blocked field goal) he was chosen as our Gameday cover story. I shot A.J. once last year, but paired with former wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi (now with the Cleveland Browns). This is the first time I'd get the college superstar all on his lonesome. I've had an idea for the 3 football seasons I've been covering Georgia that I haven't had the chance to use. This was the chance. A.J. Green is like a superhero on the field so I wanted to have him pose in a Superman stance with a Georgia "G" flag billowing off his shoulders like a cape. We typically get our ideas approved by the folks at UGA beforehand. Late the night before the shoot I got the word that the Superman idea was a no-go. I was absolutely exasperated. I'd spent so much time conceptualizing my plan and just had no creativity left in me to conjure another good idea.
I spent hours that I should have been sleeping rolling it around in my brain. I thought of words that describe A.J. and one came to mind that stuck: ELECTRIC. From there I came up with an idea for an illustration centered around electricity bolting from his hands to a football. After shooting A.J. and spending 4 hours in front of a computer screen I had a cover. It's no Superman, but it works.
Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green has 81 career catches for 1,391 yards and 12 touchdowns. At this pace, he will be the Bulldogs’ all-time top receiver after his junior season.
Design layout by assistant sports editor Chad Clark
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2 comments:
Hey, it turned out really cool! Maybe you can still use your Superman idea at some point in the future.
Thanks! Yeah, maybe, but he was the guy to use it on. His teammates even call him Superman! Oh well.
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