One of the perks working as an NFL photographer is that sometimes you get the chance to photograph your favorite team and player. Lucky for me my favorite team is the New England Patriots and my favorite player is Tom Brady and they come to Miami every year. With the Miracle in Miami happening last year, New England came to Hard Rock Stadium looking for revenge and got it when the Patriots shut out the Dolphins 43-0.
Antonio Brown Circus
A couple of days prior to the game the Oakland Raiders cut Antonio Brown who quickly signed with the New England Patriots. When the Patriots come to town the media frenzy is already out of control. By adding Antonio Brown to the mix you could feel the energy among the media members. Press, photo and videographers fighting over the tiniest real estate to watch Antonio Brown come off the team bus. As soon as he came out for warmups, the media scrum that is usually dedicated to Tom Brady surrounded Brown. Naturally Antonio played more to the crowd of fans which then caused more of a scrum. I kept my distance, but also kept an eye on Antonio for anything else.
Tom Brady
I will be the first to admit Tom Brady wasn’t my favorite player when he first came along. That belonged to Drew Bledsoe and to this day I hold Bledsoe in high regard, but it’s clear to even the blind that Tom Brady is the GOAT and has the 6 SuperBowl rings to show for it. Photographing the Patriots the past few years I’ve learned that Tom likes to walk the field as soon as he gets to the stadium. Knowing this I made a beeline for the field once the buses emptied out and sure enough out comes Tom Brady. For the five minutes he was walking around it was me, the grounds crew, the Patriots team photographer, David Silverman and Tom Brady. It’s nice to have pictures no one else will get, but now that my secret is out, maybe next year I won’t be so lucky.
The Patriots Shut Out the Dolphins
The game itself wasn’t pretty if you’re a Dolphins fan. After the previous week’s drubbing by the Ravens to open the NFL Kickoff weekend, there wasn’t much optimism for the Dolphins beating the Patriots. Plus it didn’t help of rumors of players wanting to jump ship like Minkah Fitzpatrick.
While the Patriots offense started off slow and exploded in the 2nd half, the Patriots’ defense was steady all game long. Constantly putting pressure on the quarterbacks, didn’t matter which one the Dolphins threw out there. On back to back throws by Ryan Fitzpatrick they were intercepted by the Patriots and returned for touchdowns. The Dolphins couldn’t catch a break or a pass for that matter. When all was said and done, the Patriots shut out the Dolphins and moved to 2-0 on the young season.
Below are photos from the game where the Patriots shut out the Dolphins 43-0
