(photos by Brian Murphy)
For better or for worse, another year of disappointing football has come and gone in our nation’s capital. And while theĀ 2011 season wasn’t exactly what fans of the Washington Redskins hoped for, it wasn’t all bad.
Head coach Mike Shanahan continues to retool and reshape his roster — dumping overpaid and underwhelming players in hopes of building a younger and hungrier roster.
The Redskins are no longer the oldest team in football. Nor are they the automatic punchline when an aging veteran hopes to collect one last payday before heading off into the sunset. These are obviously positives that a beleaguered fanbase can take pride in.
On a personal level, the 2011 campaign represented the first time in my seven years covering the team that I was able to cover all 16 regular season games.
In fact, the only time the Redskins took the field without me on the sidelines the entire year was when they traveled to Indianapolis for a meaningless exhibition game during the preseason.
Otherwise, I was there for the highest of the highs (also known as Week 1) and the lowest of the lows (a.k.a. – The John Beck Experiment).
Additionally, this was also the year I made a conscientious effort to push myself as a photographer. I figured it was well past time to take the training wheels off and see if I could keep up with the big boys on my own.
Once the season finally ended, I wanted to go back through my photos from 19 weeks of football to see what I was able to come up with.
With that in mind, here are the most compelling photos I was able to capture during the 2011 season. Please take a moment to look through them and let me know which ones, if any, stand out to you.
And finally, I’d like to sincerely thank all of you for your amazing support throughout the years. It really does make all of the long hours and travel worth it.
Hail.
Lights, Camera, Action
Sports Portraits
Capturing a Moment
Cause for Celebration
My Fab Five
I love the fact that Brandon Marshall has already tensed up in preparation for the monster hit London Fletcher is about to inflict upon him.
Shooting in rain is much more tolerable when you’re able to capture a shot of a player getting hit so hard that rain drops go flying off of him.
Rex Grossman might not be a franchise quarterback who coaches should stake their reputations on, but dammit, he’s extremely confident and compelling player to cover.
Every muscle in Roy Helu’s body is tensed up at this exact moment as he dishes out a massive stiff arm to a would-be defender.
And, of course, my favorite photo of the 2011 season is the one that almost got me trampled by Ryan Kerrigan. Good times.
Finally, here’s a link for those local sports fans who might be interested in seeing more of my photography.
5 comments
January 5, 2012 at 6:41 am
Well done. I fully agree with your choices for “Homer’s Digest”. Keep up the GREAT work. And thanks, for bringing the game to us “little guys”. Keep it real.
January 5, 2012 at 9:39 am
Awesome bunch of photos. I think the Sav Rocca portrait is my favorite. He’s always had the look of an old school leather-head football brawler and that kind of nonchalant intensity is definitely on display in the photo.
January 5, 2012 at 9:47 am
We should all be lucky enough to almost be trampled by RyKer.
January 6, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Great pictures. I still think Orakpo’s leap frog is the best.
January 6, 2012 at 6:45 pm
Absolutely amazing work! You really stepped it up this year and these photos are proof. Quite impressive – I look forward to next season’s coverage!