As Super Bowl XLVIII approaches this seems an appropriate post.
Ah, the fun of cleaning up a bunch of old boxes. You never know what treasures you might stumble upon.
People often ask me how long have I been a photographer. I can’t really remember a time that I wasn’t. I covered 3 Super Bowls when they were still in single digits.
My father was a well known camera repairman in the Dallas area. I worked with him for a short time when I was a young teenager. That was a treasure in itself. He knew most of the well known area photographers, they came to him to get his help and advice. One of my favorite customers was Jim Laughead. He was a real character. He always donned a wide brimmed fedora and a red vest. He carved out a niche for himself photographing all the major college and professional football teams across the United States.
He asked me what I wanted to do for a living and I told him I wanted his job. He asked if I was interested in football photograph and I said yes. He invited me to come to a Dallas Cowboy game with him. He gave me and my dad sideline passes to come watch the Cowboys play against the New York Giant at the old Cotton Bowl on December 1, 1963. I was fifteen years old.
I got to watch Sam Huff, Y A Tittle (in his hi-tops in 2nd pic), Frank Gifford, Don Meredith, Eddie Lebaron, Bob Lilly, Cornel Green, Jerry Tubbs and Chuck Howley and of course Tom Landry in his iconic fedora.
I had only a twin lens Rolleiflex to shoot with, but it was more the being there. That was one perfect day, even if the Cowboys lost.
It was almost as much fun coming across a few of the photos I took that day.
You can visit the past, you just can’t stay there. en theos ††† jim
Shades of Gray - Denison TX 
Jim, I remember those days very well. Three of our Mac teammates (Kerry, Jimmy and I think, Jackie) and I went to the Salesmanship Club Pregame in August of ’64, not long after you took those pictures. We got to see the Cowboys beat the Packers for the first time ever. It was a wonderful time, but I really only remember our after game festivities. As you probably remember, after the game in those days you could go just outside the locker room and get autographs of the players. We were all in awe of the Packers, cause our “Boys” had not yet come into fruition, even though they had performed well that evening. So, we were outside the Packer locker room and got several autographs from Packer greats: Bart Starr, Fuzzy Thurston, Jerry Kramer, Paul Horning and more. When we all were disappointed when Paul Horning lit up a cigarette, we looked over to the Packer team bus and saw Vince Lombardi sitting in the bus, appearing to be stewing over the loss. They guys dared me, and crazy kid that I was, I went on to the Packer team bus and asked Vince for his autograph. He kind of sneered at me, but he did not throw me off the bus and signed my program. What a great moment in my personal history.
The sequel to this story was a few years ago I found that program, which my Dad had bought me for 50 cents that warm day in August. My wife and I were needing some cash at the time, so I decided to sell it. I still have all the scans of the program, so it is still with me any time I want to see it. I have never been one to have a bunch of things like that hanging around anyhow. A big Packer fan bought it from me for $800, which was probably a bargain. Thanks for posting and sharing those great memories, Jim.