Super Bowl Lvi – Shot Of The Month – February 2022
‘Shot of the Month’ is brought to you by Sport Industry Awards partner Shutterstock. In this ongoing image-led series, we turn the spotlight on those behind the lens. Telling the story of the standout photos that grace newspapers, magazines and digital screens around the world from the photographer’s point of view.
K C Alfred, Shutterstock Sports Photographer
With more than 112 million people watching this year’s NFL Super Bowl, it is clear it is America’s premiere sporting event.
The Los Angeles Rams, who just played in the Super Bowl just four years ago, were playing in their home stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals, who had the worst record in the NFL the previous two seasons. Even though the Rams were playing in their new $5bn (£3.75bn) Sofi stadium, it was half filled with fans rooting for the underdog Bengals.
Like many of the previous playoff games, the Super Bowl came down to the final minutes of the game. The Rams’ Cooper Kupp caught a touchdown pass to put the Rams up with a little more than a minute to go. The Bengals had one last chance to tie the game but came up short when Bengals quarterback Jow Burrow was sacked on a fourth down play by the Rams’ Aaron Donald with 40 seconds left to seal the victory for the Rams.
The sack happened at midfield and I was lucky to have a perfect angle on the play and the subsequent celebration by the Rams. My position for the game was a fixed spot around the 40-yard line in an elevated seat.
Fans in the stadium and people watching at home got a great game. Rams fans celebrated as Bengals fans looked on in disbelief as the game ended in one of the closest scores in Super Bowl history.
Photographing the Super Bowl is like no other sporting event. It is one of the grandest sporting events of the year and I was happy to be a part of it.
