The death knell for the Dallas Cowboys had sounded moments earlier, and when the Sports Illustrated photographer covering America’s Team made his way into Candlestick Park’s visiting locker room, he encountered near silence.

“It looked like every player had just lost their mother in a car crash,” Walter Iooss Jr., the legendary sports photographer, told The Messenger in an interview from his home in Montauk, New York, referring to the aftermath of the 1982 NFC Championship Game. “That’s it. It’s over.”

Iooss had covered the Cowboys that entire 1981 NFL season, on assignment for Sports Illustrated, and clicked frame after frame of the franchise’s most famous players of that era — Tony Dorsett, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Drew Pearson, Danny White (the successor to Cowboys Super Bowl-winning quarterback Roger Staubach) — as well as Hall of Fame head coach Tom Landry. But one of Iooss’ most iconic images, in a career that has spanned six decades-plus, came at the expense of those same Cowboys, and courtesy of San Francisco 49ers quarterback/wide receiver tandem Joe Montana and Dwight Clark. 

“Seven or nine seconds, whatever it was, when Joe rolled right, I had him rolling right, and releasing the ball,” said Iooss, recalling the scene unfolding in his camera viewfinder on January 10, 1982. “Suddenly someone comes in from my right-hand view. And then it was over. Most depressing moment of all time. I was like, ‘What the f—?’ ”

The “someone” was Clark, the Pro Bowl wideout, who had skipped across the back of the Candlestick end zone, leaped higher than Cowboys defensive back Everson Walls, and clasped Montana’s floater with his fingertips in the corner for the tying score. Kicker Ray Wersching booted the extra point for the nail in the Dallas coffin. The 49ers went on to win the first of four Super Bowls with Montana behind center.

“I went back to New York. Next Wednesday or Thursday, “The Catch” was born,” said Iooss, recalling the post-assignment film development process in the pre-digital age. “You can’t make it up.”

Iooss (pronounced YO-ss) had snapped a photo that became what he now calls “my most famous picture,” the January 18, 1982 SI cover shot of Clark frozen in air over Walls.

But the Texas-born, New Jersey-raised Iooss was by 1982 already a renowned Sports Illustrated lensman, and his name was affixed to hundreds of the famed sports magazine’s covers and interior story photographs — from golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to SI Swimsuit Issue goddesses Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley to NBA stars Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the cultural icon Broadway Joe Namath, poolside in South Florida on the cusp of fulfilling his Super Bowl III guarantee. (Yes, kids, the New York Jets actually won one.)

Iooss’ SI profile would swell starting in the late 1980s and extending through the late ’90s, when he essentially became NBA superstar Michael Jordan’s personal photographer. Iooss covered His Airness when the Hall of Fame guard led the Chicago Bulls to six championships, when he soared to the basket in the 1988 Slam Dunk contest in Chicago, and even when Jordan took a year off to pursue a pro baseball career in 1994.

The 80-year-old Iooss is still working, and he has several projects in the works, even though he is long removed from his SI staff position. Of course, Iooss also has his trove of photographs encompassing his career — one that evolved from film to digital. He owns the rights to his massive photo collection, and his son is the curator. 

The recent news that Sports Illustrated staffers — including writers and editors — would be laid off by publisher The Arena Group, shocked the media world, and spells an uncertain future for the publication. Iooss called the situation “horrible,” and his Sports Illustrated body of work represents part of a bygone sports media era, when the SI cover was king, and the stories and photographs within the pages of the weekly magazine were the Bible for sports fans. 

[embedded content]

In the age of information immediacy, when athletes can control their own narratives through social media accounts and fans can see highlights of sports events in real time at the touch of their cell phone, the beauty and significance of sports photographs may seem like a lost art. Both of Iooss’ sons — Christian and Bjorn — are in the field, but even Iooss admitted it’s a tricky proposition doling out advice to sports photojournalism hopefuls. 

“I wouldn’t recommend it,” said Iooss. “There are a few places to go, like Getty (agency). Newspapers have almost no photographers anymore, the magazine business is decimated. Advertising still exists, but it’s not a good business. I entered at the greatest time there’s ever been, for the greatest publishing company that ever existed. 

“You didn’t know it. You know it now.”

Born in Temple, Texas, in 1943, Iooss and his family eventually settled in the New York metropolitan area following his parents’ divorce. Young Walter lived with his mother and grandfather in rough and tumble East Orange, New Jersey, while his father, Walter Sr., lived in Brooklyn. The elder Iooss (the name is Flemish) was a musician and at one point toured with the “King of Swing,” bandleader Benny Goodman, playing bass.  

Father and son were huge sports fans, Iooss said, and they went to Brooklyn Dodgers games at Ebbets Field. But the moment that set Iooss on a course to photography came after his father bought season tickets to the New York football Giants, who played at Yankee Stadium. During a home game in 1959, Iooss used an Asahi Pentax camera his father had given him to shoot several frames of the game. After processing the film, Iooss said he was on his way.

He scored an interview with an SI photo editor in 1960, the summer before his senior year at East Orange High. The magazine sent him on what he said were spec assignments, where he’d travel to places like Philadelphia to photograph Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, when the club played the Phillies. A year later, SI called Iooss two weeks after he got his high school diploma and sent him on a paid assignment — “A hundred dollars, a lot of money back then!” — to photograph octogenarian sailor Archie Chester, who was making an epic voyage. The photo would be for the “Pat on the Back” feature on the magazine’s last page. Iooss said when he arrived for the Connecticut shoot, Chester looked at him like he was from Mars. 

“His face, it just dropped. ‘They’re sending a boy to do a man’s job?’ I knew that’s what he was thinking,” said Iooss. “I didn’t like boats. I was so nauseous. But yeah, they printed it. 

“Not a portfolio piece.”

It was enough to get Iooss an entry, however, and later in 1961, he was sent to Yankee Stadium on October 1 to cover Roger Maris’ attempt to break Babe Ruth’s then single-season home run record. Iooss said that the magazine ran photos of the historic game from another SI photographer who was there instead. Still, by 1962, not yet 20, Iooss was being sent everywhere. He would often work alongside another legendary Sports Illustrated photographer who was also just starting: Neil Leifer.

“They were sending children out,” said Iooss with a laugh. “I remember we covered the World Series, ‘65 in Los Angeles, and Neil, at the end of the game with [Hall of Fame pitcher Don] Drysdale on the mound, jumped out of his spot and ran out to the field and got between [Dodgers catcher John] Roseboro and Drysdale. The f—ing L.A. press went insane.”

Iooss said the competition amongst peers and colleagues was fierce, and that the SI cover photo was the holy grail. 

“We were competitive. It made us better,” said Iooss. “We all wanted the same thing. I’m competitive on everything. My greatest compliment was from Michael Jordan: ‘He’s quick and he’s good.’ ”

Iooss eventually became full-time with SI by the ’70s, but also had a job working for Atlantic Records. He photographed some of the label’s giants then — Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Sam & Dave — and was Wilson Pickett’s personal photographer. But Iooss said the music business and the exploding drug scene in the late ’60s was “overwhelming” and forced an exit. “I had to stop,” said Iooss.  

The popularity of SI’s Swimsuit Issue can perhaps be traced to Iooss’ memorable photos of Tiegs and Brinkley in the ’70s. “I shot the fishnet,” said Iooss, referring to Tiegs’ white, see-through swimsuit that may have simultaneously spiked (with young males) and sunk (with mad mothers) magazine subscriptions. “We went to the Seychelles with Christie Brinkley, oh my God. One of the great trips of all time. Just an incredible place.”

The Sports Illustrated travel budget was flush, and Iooss sai it was not at all uncommon for him to fly first-class for assignments. Sometimes he was treated to an even more luxurious ride.

“I did a lot of Wimbledons, and we had to bring film home on the Concorde. Every year,” said Iooss. “Three hours. You’d arrive earlier than when you left. Nice way to travel.”  

In the summer of 1980, the Yankees’ slugger Reggie Jackson was destroying American League pitching. Iooss went to the old Stadium to try and capture Mr. October socking a home run. Iooss let Jackson know he was waiting for him down the right-field line. 

“First at-bat, he hits a fly ball deep. But not over the fence,” said Iooss. “He comes out to me in right field and says, ‘How was that?’ I said, ‘It wasn’t good. You didn’t hit a home run.’ Next at-bat, he takes it deep into the stands. I said, ‘That’s it. We got it.’ Cover of the magazine next week.” 

After “The Catch” cover was published in 1982, Iooss was approached to work for Fuji, which was trying to fight its way into the color film market against behemoth Kodak. Iooss would be contracted by Fuji to follow the U.S. Olympic athletes as they prepared for the Los Angeles ’84 Summer Games.

“I really did not want to go off SI staff,” said Iooss. “But it was the greatest contract ever. I had total access to all the athletes. If I didn’t get the right Greg Louganis photo, I’d go back again. I stayed at the Beverly Hills Hotel for three weeks for the Olympics. One of the largest bills I’ve ever seen in my life. There was no traffic in Los Angeles, everyone left the city. It was exciting.”

He returned to Sports Illustrated’s staff after the Olympics, and in 1987, Iooss was asked to go to Lisle, Illinois, to photograph Jordan for a cover. The assignment became the first of dozens that involved Jordan over the ensuing decade, and sparked a cordial business relationship between photographer and superstar athlete. As Jordan’s star rose, there is no denying the direct impact his many appearances on SI’s cover had on his ascendency. 

Even when the magazine did a cover story on Jordan’s 1994 baseball foray — with the infamous diss, “Bag it, Michael!” — Iooss said he was able to avoid Jordan’s SI freeze-out, a ban that exists to this day. 

“There was a moment after that cover. I walked into Jordan’s dressing room. He’s looking at my credential. ‘Who are you working for, Walter?’ If I said anything that was wrong, that was it for me,” said Iooss. “I said, ‘Mike, I had no choice. I couldn’t get a credential. I’m working for SI. What the f— am I gonna do?’ He said, ‘OK.’ If I said something else, I’m gone. Never lie.”

Iooss not only shot Jordan for the magazine, but was hired to do photo work for numerous of Jordan’s endorsement deals, as well as collaborate with him on the 1993 book, Rare Air.

The assignments are fewer these days, but Iooss said he still prepares, just in case. Even as his profession evolves — most would say for the worse — Iooss is up for any challenge behind the lens. 

“I don’t know if this year is going to bring anything. I ship my cameras to Florida, like I always do during the winter,” said Iooss, who also has home there. “Last year, I never opened the bag. First time that ever happened. I was like, ‘Wow.’ A reality check. But you know? You’ve got to be prepared. Someone might want to hire you. I’m ready to go.”