The Sports Illustrated secret
Published: 8/14/2009 8:28 PM
Last Modified: 8/14/2009 8:28 PM
In mid-July, Gavin Lang, Oklahoma State's associate director of athletic media relations, telephoned quarterback Zac Robinson and center Andrew Lewis.
Lang's instructions – report to Gallagher-Iba Arena on July 22, in a complete home uniform, for a Sports Illustrated photo session.
"They both knew from the beginning that it was (a cover shoot)," Lang says. "For Andrew, it was almost like disbelief. Like we were messing with him. Zac was more like, 'Wow, that's awesome.'
"We asked both of them to keep it a secret, because that's what Sports Illustrated asked us to do. Apparently, they did keep it a secret. Zac's sister, Katie Ann, works in our office, and even she didn't know about it until two days before the magazine came out."
SI's college football issue was released this week. OSU is represented on one of four regional covers, with Oregon, Ole Miss and Penn State getting the others. Never before had an Okl;ahoma State player been on the Sports Illustrated cover.
The cover images were shot by Los Angeles-based Peter Read Miller, a longtime SI photographer. The Robinson-Lewis photo was shot on the Galliagher-Iba court. During the 40-minute session, they were positioned on artificial turf brought by the Sports Illustrated crew.
Miller encouraged Robinson to bark signals as though he were in a game. For added authenticity, Lewis even wore knee braces.
Two boxes of the magazines arrived at the OSU football offices on Wednesday, but they were the Ole Miss magazines with quarterback Jevan Snead on the cover. On Thursday, a shipment of the Robinson-Lewis magazines arrived at OSU.
-- Bill Haisten
Written by
Bill Haisten
Sports Writer
