Silver and Black (1984-1985)
One of the perks of being the principle photographer for CitySports Magazine was being able to request photo credentials to any sporting event that I wished to shoot. For the 1984 and 1985 seasons I requested and received a photo pass to shoot the Los Angeles Raiders, who played in the vastness of the decrepit, 1923 built, 100,000 seat capacity LA Coliseum.
The LA Raiders were the bad boys of the National Football League, and were a very exciting team, especially to photograph. The year before I began photographing them, In 1983, they had won the Superbowl. Led by head coach Tom Flores the team included some truly great players including Howie Long, Marcus Allen, Lester Hayes, Jim Plunkett, and Matt Millen.
The Raiders were a blast to shoot. After the game the locker room was always rocking and out of control, filled with music, screaming and profanity, and the players were brash and in your face. They were my perfect photo subjects.
The team had an excellent season 1984 but lost to the Seattle Seahawks in the wildcard round of the playoffs that year. In 1985, they won twelve games and another division title, but the number one seed Raiders suffered a humiliating 27-20 defeat to the New England Patriots in the divisional playoffs. I remember the intensity of that game, as the great Patriot receiver, Stanley Morgan, offered his hand in consolation to a distraught Lester Hayes, who was sitting on his helmet in the middle of the field, after the final gun had sounded.
The following year I was off to Boston to begin a new life, swapping the silver and black of the Los Angeles Raider’s for the red, white and blue of the New England Patriots.
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