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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
James T. “Brad” Bradley, who photographed 75 Cotton Bowls, dating back to Heisman Trophy winner Doak Walker’s first appearance in the game in 1948, died Friday morning at his Dallas home, according to the Cotton Bowl. He was 101.
Bradley photographed every game except for the 2020 contest during the COVID-19 pandemic, the only game he missed in 76 years. He photographed this year’s Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Fame enshrinement in May.
“My life, I believe, was extended because of the joy that I gathered from traveling around the country, working with athletes,” Bradley told WFAA in Dallas this year.
Bradley attended Ohio State and first became interested in the profession after watching a classmate, four-time gold medalist Jesse Owens, and wanting to photograph him. Bradley later came to Dallas at the urging of his father-in-law, Jim Laughead, who shot sports photos for colleges around the country.
Together, Bradley and Laughead pioneered the famed “Huck & Buck” style of portraits, where players were posing with stiff-arms, leaping or diving toward the camera. The style became popular beginning in the 1950s and became the standard pose for media guides or football cards. By 1970, they were the photographers for 35 colleges and 12 NFL teams, according to the Cotton Bowl.
“Mr. Bradley is a Cotton Bowl Classic treasure,” Cotton Bowl Athletic Association president and CEO Rick Baker said in a statement. “His impact on our game and generations of sports fans is truly immeasurable. Brad has been a fixture at our game since Doak Walker played in the Classic in 1948. He lived such an incredible life and we will miss him dearly. We will always remember and celebrate him as a Cotton Bowl Classic Hall of Famer.”
Former Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum knew Bradley dating to his time as a player at McNeese State.
“I’ve got a picture of me holding a ball out in front of me like I was catching a pass hanging on my wall” from a Laughead session at McNeese, Slocum said. “They’d say, ‘OK, now, huck and buck, huck and buck.’ You had to run at the camera and turn like you are making a big cut.”
Slocum later coached in the Cotton Bowl seven times, and Bradley was always present.
“I bet there’s not one person in the world who didn’t like Brad,” Slocum said. “I’ve got nothing but really good memories of being around him.”
Bradley was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2007, and the College Football Hall of Fame featured the Bradley-Laughead archives with a special exhibit in 2018. Bradley was also honored in the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2019.
