You are looking at the most famous photograph of any Northern Illinois University student-athlete in the 116-year history of the institution – James Arthur Bradley in all his 19-year-old exuberant glory, standing in the middle of a DeKalb cornfield under a boundless blue sky.
In my memory, no other image comes close. For many reasons.
Oh, you mean, the Sports Illustrated cover? No, that’s the local “urban myth” that has surrounded this iconic photo for decades. In reality, it was on page 73 of SI’s “College Basketball Preview” issue – dated Nov. 19, 1971, with North Carolina State’s Tom Burleson actually featured on its “Year of the New Giants” themed cover.