DALLAS — James T. "Brad" Bradley, a renowned Dallas-based sports photographer, died Friday at 101, after more than 75 years of capturing sports.
An obituary for Bradley states that he passed away peacefully in his home on Oct. 13.
In his career, Bradley captured college and professional athletes across the country, his obituary states, and pioneered the "Huck 'n Buck" posed action shot, along with his father-in-law Jim Laughead, which would define football photography for decades.
Two years later, snapping sports pictures would officially become his calling. It was at the age of 25 that Bradley found himself roaming the sidelines, his vintage Crown Graphic Camera in hand, at his very first college bowl game -- the 1948 Cotton Bowl.
There, 27,000 chilled fans came to see Southern Methodist University sparkplug Doak Walker run up against the vaunted Penn State Nittany Lions. Bradley did the same; he just so happened to have his camera along with him as he did.
"If it wasn't for Doak and SMU's success at the time, my dad’s career probably wouldn’t have been what it would have been," says Bradley's son, Jimmy Bradley.
Shooting that game opened doors for Bradley to shoot more athletes, more games, more portraits. And for the last 75 years, he kept it up, refusing to call it quits.
In 2007, Bradley was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame, and received the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame Legends Award in 2019. The Lone Star chapter of the Regional EMMY Awards also gave him the 2023 Governor's Award for Lifetime Achievement.
"I enjoy what I do," Bradley told WFAA earlier this year, reflecting on all those he's been blessed to have photographed throughout the years. "[Even if] I'm not as effective as I once was."
A visitation for Bradley will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 22 at Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home, and a memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23 at Highland Park United Methodist Church.
