The original version of this story appeared in the 85th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Official Game Program

If at any point in time during the past 73 years you have attended the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic as a fan, participated in the game as a player, coach, broadcaster, or reporter, it's a safe bet that you have crossed paths with one of America's favorite sports photographers.
 
And odds are even better that he has taken your picture. Rarely without a camera at the ready, few escape his keen and watchful eye.
 
His name is Jim Bradley, but he prefers to be known as Brad, although everyone affectionately calls him Mr. Bradley.
 
This living legend has been capturing the imagination of sports fans for more than seven decades. He was bitten by the shutter bug at an early age shortly after returning home to North Texas from World War II as a member of the Army Air Corps. He met and married Betty Laughead, the daughter of James Laughead who was busy making a name for himself as a Dallas sports photographer.
 
Laughead honed his craft as a student at The Ohio State University. He was a classmate of Jesse Owens…yes, that Jesse Owens…the American sprinter and long jumper who achieved fame in winning four Gold Medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Enthralled with Owens' athleticism, Laughead learned how to use a camera by capturing images of Owens and the Buckeyes' track team whenever the opportunity arose.
 
…AND SUDDENLY THE PHONE RANG
In the summer of 1946, Laughead was lured to Dallas by Lester Jordan, SMU's sports information director, with the promise of landing a contract to serve as photographer for the Mustangs' athletic teams. Knowing full well that this was a job too big for one person to handle, he picked up the phone and called his son-in-law who was living in Texarkana, three hours northeast of Dallas.
 
Brad didn't waste time mulling over the offer. "Yes, I would like to do that," he told his father-in-law. So, just like that, a career was born in the world of sports photography.
 
Having turned the tender age of 98 this past July, it's anyone's guess as to how many household names have appeared in Mr. Bradley's viewfinder through the years. Only a NASA computer could figure out that number. With camera in hand, he has been a first-hand observer in the way the game has evolved, in regard to strategy and the way football has helped transform American society.
 
"I remember listening to the 1947 Cotton Bowl on the radio when Arkansas and LSU played in the game," said Mr. Bradley. One year later, he took up residence on the Cotton Bowl sideline when SMU clashed with Penn State. And he has been a permanent fixture at the game ever since.
 
As the Mustangs' assistant photographer, Mr. Bradley found himself running in the company of Doak Walker, a future Heisman Trophy winner, and Kyle Rote. Both players went on to even greater notoriety after college in the NFL. Walker and Rote comprised a backfield tandem that led the Ponies to back-to-back Southwest Conference championships and earn the host role in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
 
 "I have so many fond memories of my time with Doak," said Brad, "He was always happy and wanted to do whatever we asked of him. One time I got a picture of Doak pumping gas into our family station wagon, a Buick Roadmaster, while Kyle cleaned the back windshield. That is just the way they were. It was a truly memorable time in my life."
 
The Laughead/Bradley photo team was now in high demand. Their business footprint quickly expanded from SMU to encompass all of the Southwest Conference. Loaded with film and plenty of gas, that station wagon got a workout traveling the backroads of Texas and Arkansas well before the interstate highway system came into vogue.
 
They added LSU to the portfolio in 1952 and then the rest of the Southeastern Conference joined the fold. Next came the Atlantic Coast Conference. By 1970 they found themselves on the road a good portion of the year shooting publicity photos for 35 colleges and 12 NFL teams.
 
There wasn't much time for family life in those days. Both of his children, Iris and Jimmy, were born while their dad was on the road. However, it didn't take long for the Bradley offspring to become key members of the family business. Today, Jimmy serves as his chief photo assistant.
 
THE HUCK 'N' BUCK
The Laughead/Bradley duo were always in search of creative ways to capture the best photos for their clients. New techniques were developed for players to follow in giving the appearance of being in motion. Thus, the "posed action" image became a staple of their photographic catalog.
 
"We were at Mississippi State and one of the Bulldogs' linebackers couldn't quite get his footwork exactly right to make a good picture," Mr. Bradley recalled. "We were asking him to run laterally while crossing his legs and moving his arms from side-to side. That went on for a while without much progress being made. Finally, one of his teammates came over and said, 'What they want you to do is the Hucklebuck Dance,' which was all the rage on college campuses in the mid-1950s.
 
With that a new battle cry could be heard coming from college practice fields all around the country when players were instructed to "come 'Huckin' and Buckin'. It rarely failed to produce the perfect posed-action image.
 
However, not all of their inventions with the camera panned out. The 'Death Dive' was one such pose. Players were instructed to leave their feet and dive straight for the camera. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned on a spring afternoon at Texas Tech. One of the Red Raiders' star linemen was injured while trying to execute the maneuver.
 
"We about got fired that day," said Mr. Bradley. "The player landed wrong and hurt his shoulder. Needless to say, the head coach was so mad at us he stormed off the field. That's where the 'Death Dive' ended."
 
AN EYEWITNESS TO SOCIAL CHANGE
In his very first Cotton Bowl Classic in 1948, Mr. Bradley encountered a brush with social change with the integration of football in Texas. Penn State came to play SMU and two of the Nittany Lions' standout players were African-American, Wallace Triplett and Dennie Hoggard.
 
The game ended in a 13-13 stalemate. Triplett tied the game with a six-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter, and Hoggard came within inches of catching the game-winning pass in the end zone on the final play of the game. Triplett was honored with his induction into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2018.
 
Because of segregation laws that were in place in Texas in that era, Penn State was not permitted to stay in Dallas hotels and instead the team took up residence at the Dallas Naval Air Station on the city's outskirts.
 
"After the game, SMU brought both teams back to campus and served them dinner in the student union," said Bradley. "It was a special moment in time and something I'll never forget.
 
When Jerry LeVias entered SMU in 1965, he became the first African-American to receive an athletic scholarship in the Southwest Conference. His signing forever changed the racial makeup of college football in the Southwest. LeVias became a three-time All-SWC receiver, a three-time Academic All-America selection, and he earned consensus All-America honors as a senior. He guided the Mustangs to their first Cotton Bowl Classic in 18 years on December 31, 1966.
 
"One of the greatest moments in SMU history and for the Southwest Conference was when Coach (Hayden) Fry signed Jerry LeVias to a scholarship," said Mr. Bradley. "He was a terrific player, a scoring threat on every play, and a wonderful person. Jerry and I developed a close friendship; and to this day, he and I still call each other on a regular basis."
 
Five years after LeVias knocked down the color barrier in the SWC, the game took another step forward on September 12, 1970, at Birmingham's Legion Field. Mr. Bradley was on the sideline and an eyewitness to history as Southern California became the first fully integrated team to play in the state of Alabama. The outcome was a blowout Trojan victory over the Crimson Tide, 42-21. This night served as a beacon that social change was coming soon, not only in the Deep South but for all of college football.
 
A HALL OF FAME MOMENT
In the summer of 2018, the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta created a tribute to the Bradley/Laughead archives. Included in the vast collection of photographs and memorabilia commemorating a lifetime of experiences was the camera Mr. Bradley made famous, the Speed Graphic, which used large 4 x 5-inch negatives for better quality images.
 
"Brad Bradley has a unique position among photographers who have covered college football," said Kent Stephens, the Hall of Fame's historian who served as archivist for 28 years. "Having first photographed the game in the late 1940s, he has to be the Lou Gehrig/Cal Ripken of college football photographers. But longevity is secondary to the innovative techniques he brought to his craft. He and his father-in-law were pioneers in posed action sports publicity stills. The style they created has been often imitated but rarely replicated and never surpassed."
 
A GOODYEAR COTTON BOWL INSTITUTION
It's a badge of honor to have your photo taken by Mr. Bradley. His boyish smile and friendly greeting of "Hello, old friend," never fails to leave a favorable impression.
 
Few can match his service to a single bowl game. Players and coaches come and go, but the one constant at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic has been Mr. Bradley. After jumping on the Southwest Conference football beat in the fall of 1947 and covering his first Cotton Bowl game on the first day of 1948, he has become a crowd favorite and mentor to many budding photographers. One of his pupils is former Cotton Bowl board member Melissa Macatee.
 
"Mr. Bradley has made a huge impact on my life and how I approach my own photography," said Macatee. "He is always a gentleman and has a wonderful way with people. He gets the shot every time with what appears to be ease but it's really due to his many years of experience."
 
Enshrined in the spring of 2007, Mr. Bradley is a card-carrying member of the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame. He has rubbed elbows with the best of the best and he's still going strong.
 
"Mr. Bradley is a national treasure," said Rick Baker, the President/CEO of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. "He has meant so much to our game and staff. He's always there for us whenever we are in need of photography work or to answer an historical question.
 
"Consider all the household names he has worked with at our game alone. It's quite the list…Doak Walker, Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Lance Alworth, Tommy Nobis, Roger Staubach, Earl Campbell, Joe Montana, Mike Singletary, Doug Flutie, Ricky Williams, Eli Manning and Trevor Lawrence. Add to the list coaches like Matty Bell, Darrell Royal, Frank Broyles, Ara Parseghian and Bear Bryant and his resume becomes even more impressive. Without question he is an integral part of the fabric that makes the Goodyear Cotton Bowl one of America's greatest traditions. He is a true Hall of Famer."