NFL Film Presents – Behind the Scenes with Takeo Spikes and Mike Moreland

We are excited to announce that Fox Sports featured us on Tuesday night, September 29^th at 8 p.m.! The show was aired on NFL Film Presents, which is part of their NFL film series. Tuesday night’s show told the story of how former NFL All Pro Linebacker Takeo Spikes met and teamed up with Mike Moreland of Moreland Photography to create a book recording the lives of famous NFL linebackers after they retired, including behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the book.

Since the book itself isn’t complete yet, we can’t divulge everything that it will cover or show you any of the images that will be in the book. You will just have to wait until the book is published to get the full story. In the meantime, we can tell you what is happening behind the scenes…

Mike and Takeo first met several years ago at the wedding of Todd France, an NFL agent. Mike was Todd’s wedding photographer, and Takeo was one of the sixty-four NFL players in attendance. Through the course of the night’s festivities, Mike took several photos of Takeo and his daughter. The following year Takeo’s daughter, who knew that Takeo loved photography, looked up photography workshops in the Atlanta area. She wanted to give her father a certificate for a photography workshop for Father’s Day. She happened across Mike’s Creative Edge Photography Workshops and purchased a gift certificate. Takeo scheduled his gift certificate to be a one-on-one mentoring workshop, so he could be the student and his daughter the model. Takeo loved that class so much that he spent the next year in numerous private photography coaching lessons with Mike.

After he retired from the NFL, Takeo approached Mike with an idea. He wanted to get more involved in photography, and he wanted to use it in connection with the NFL. He also had an idea to create a book about former NFL linebackers that told the story of what they are doing now after retiring. Takeo wanted Mike to help him photograph each of the men he had in mind. Since that initial talk two years ago, Mike and Takeo have flown to and shadowed seven NFL linebackers, spending a day with each to learn about their lives. So far Derek Brooks, Harry Carson, Mike Singletary, Willie Lanier, Rickey Jackson, Chuck Bednarik, and London Fletcher have been photographed, with Kevin Greene and several others coming up next. The shoots have ranged from the Angola prison to stadiums in New Orleans and Tampa and from charity work to new businesses. The lives and stories of each man are as varied as the men themselves. The stories Mike and Takeo are capturing in their photography are the stories you won’t find on Google. They aren’t statistics on each man nor simply a general characterization of each. These are the stories of their passions, their new life’s work. Each man will receive his own chapter in the book, a chapter that reveals who he has become since being known as an NFL star.

This is the story that captivated the NFL Presents team and inspired them to tell the story last Tuesday of the two men telling the stories of NFL legends.

Mike Moreland, Takeo Spikes, Mike Singletary, and Nicco the videographer.

Mike photographing London Fletcher while Takeo interviews him.

Mike and Takeo photographing Rickey Jackson with one of his petroleum company’s trucks.

Mike and Takeo photographing Willie Lanier, a retired NFL linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs and current stockbroker.

Mike Moreland at the Mercedes-Benze Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.

More shoots and details of the book will be posted on our blog in the future. A big surprise regarding the book will be announced at the Super Bowl, so keep in touch. For more information on our Photography Workshops and coaching please visit our photography workshops website at www.photographyworkshopsatlanta.com.