Pro Football
Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photographer John Beale is the winner of the Dave Boss Award of Excellence for his entry in the 35th annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Photo Contest. His photo, entitled "Facemask," was deemed Photograph of the Year. The color action
photo depicts Pittsburgh Steelers' receiver Antwaan Randle El sustaining a
ferocious tackle in which his helmet is seemingly twisted off. The photo was
taken during the Steelers 36-33 AFC Wild Card playoff victory over the
Cleveland Browns on January 5, 2003 in Pittsburgh. Beale's entry was the first place winner in the action category. The first place winner in the feature category was Benny Sieu of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Sieu's image, titled "Take That," shows Green Bay Packers guard Marco Rivera and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Ellis Wyms engaged in hand-to-head contact during the Bucs 21-7 victory over Green Bay on November 24th in Tampa. Beale will be officially honored at the Enshrinee Dinner, part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement celebration, on August 2, 2002 in front of a sellout crowd of 4,000 people. The multi-day celebration is highlighted by the induction of the Class of 2003 - Marcus Allen, Elvin Bethea, Joe DeLamielleure, James Lofton, and Hank Stram - on August 3, followed by the AFC-NFC Hall of Fame Game the next day. This year's game showcases a rematch of the Super Bowl I participants, the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. Judging for this year's contest was conducted on April 11, by a panel of prominent photo editors and photographers. The judges included Mike Fabus, Pittsburgh Steelers' team photographer, Paul Nisley, senior photo editor, The Sporting News, Brad Smith, sports photo editor, The New York Times, Kevin Terrell, managing photo editor, NFL Creative, and Gary Tolle, manager of the creative sports department, Upper Deck. For high resolution images of this year's winners, log onto the Hall's media website www.profootballhof.com/media. Fill out the registration form if you are a first time visitor. If asked for a user name and pin code, both are "canton". For any additional information, please contact Saleem Choudhry at 330-456-8207. |