Bengals go above, beyond

For someone who refers to Super Bowl Sunday as the best holiday of the year, the idea came embarrassingly late.
If I had a “bucket list”, one of the things on it would be to attend a Super Bowl. It didn’t hit me until early September that with the game in Indianapolis this year I might be able to do even better than simply buying a ticket to the game.
I knew from a past Hoosier State Press Association seminar that regular-season coverage at the host site is one of the criteria the NFL looks at when deciding who will get Super Bowl credentials. So I figured, why not try to get media credentials for the Colts throughout the season with hopes of a successful application for a Super Bowl pass. It was a long shot, but it was worth a shot.
I sent a request to the Colts for their first home game, which happened to be against my Cleveland Browns. It was rejected.
I tried again for their Sunday night battle with the Steelers on Sept. 25. Also rejected.
After being unavailable to attend the Indianapolis Oct. 9 home game against Kansas City even if I had been granted a credential, I decided to give Cincinnati a shot. The Colts would be visiting Paul Brown Stadium on Oct. 16, giving me a chance to serve area fans of both teams.
I emailed my request on the Monday before the game to Bengals public relations director Jack Brennan, who replied with his approval a day later.
A second email requested any advice I might need as a first-time NFL shooter. I had taken photos at the NCAA Tournament in college and I’ve covered college and NBA basketball games since, but this was new territory. And I wanted to make sure I did it right.
Brennan, formerly a writer for the Cincinnati Post and Cincinnati Enquirer, went above and beyond the call of duty in his response.
Not only did he offer a few thoughts of his own, he passed along the phone number of Enquirer photographer Jeff Springer. And he even called Springer to let him know he might be hearing from me.
A call Friday afternoon to Springer resulted in a similar level of helpfulness. The veteran sports shooter reiterated something Brennan had already offered: Shooting high school football every season for 11 years would have me more than prepared. Football is football.
Springer’s other tip, a tip he said he offers to every intern he takes to a game with him, was to pay attention to the action. He said the last thing you want is to get run over by an NFL player.
They’re big. They’re fast. It would hurt.
We chatted for a while about how to get to the photographers room and a few NFL rules, and he even offered to meet me before the game.
As it turned out, my biggest difficulty was finding a reasonable parking lot in downtown Cincinnati.
With that out of the way I met Springer in the stadium photographer’s room, where he introduced me to several of the other photographers, invited me up to the press box for lunch and gave me a few more notes on sideline rules.
About an hour before the game we hit the field, and I discovered Brennan was right. Shooting football is shooting football, no matter what the level or venue.
Sure it was a little intimidating at first looking around at the dozens of other photographers, most of them with multiple cameras and lenses that seemed as if they could rival the power of the Hubble Space Telescope. But as the game went on, I was reminded of a couple of things:
1. You can get good shots without all of the fancy equipment.
2. No one gets every shot.
The first I proved to myself when I was able to get a picture I was proud of on the A.J. Green touchdown catch in the opening minutes of the game.
Later I missed the spectacular Dallas Clark TD catch even though I was in perfect position. Much like the Cincinnati defense, I was fooled by the play-action fake.
But I didn’t feel so bad after a Cincinnati photographer shared with me that he had missed the biggest play of the game — Carlos Dunlaps’ return for  TD.
Since making the drive back from the Queen City, I’ve been asked what the best part of the day was. Without a doubt it’s just being that close to the action — close enough to see Manning giving tips to Curtis Painter between plays and to hear Bengals’ coach Marvin Lewis yelling for running back Cedric Benson to secure the ball.
I can’t thank Brennan, Springer and the Bengals in general enough for the opportunity and the way I was treated in my first NFL experience. And I can’t wait to do it again.[[In-content Ad]]