(Jason Prezant Photography)
Flacco and his bride Dana Grady (Jason Prezant Photography)
(Jason Prezant Photography)
And here’s the snap.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco’s biggest day — that is, before next week’s Super Bowl Sunday — is captured in a playful photo of his wedding.
Taken at the Audubon, NJ, high school where the newlyweds first met, the photo shows Flacco’s groomsmen — adorned in Ravens’ purple and black, of course — playing the part of his offensive line and his bride, Dana Grady, as the center.
It was one of a series of pictures of the joyous 2011 nuptials that went viral after photographer Jason Prezant posted them online.
Another shows the wedding party taking in a frightening flick at a Somerdale, NJ, movie theater that wedding planner Rebecca Richman told The Baltimore Sun held sentimental meaning for the couple.
A trolley had whisked the tuxedo- and gown-clad group to a variety of shooting locations after the ceremony in Westmont, NJ.
They had started at the empty movie theater, where they filled four rows — with Joe and Dana front and center. Prezant had them scream their heads off and toss popcorn as if they had just seen the most terrifying scene of a horror movie.
Then it was on to Audubon HS, the newlyweds’ alma mater. Flacco wanted to do something related to football, Prezant told the newspaper.
“So my second photographer and I were like, ‘Joe, do a lineup. You organize it. You’re the quarterback,’ ” Prezant recalled.
“So he set everyone up.”
In front of goal posts on the school gridiron in 80-plus degree weather, the quarterback posed with a Champagne bottle in one hand, pointing as if calling signals to his right.
He was flanked by his groomsmen in three-point crouches, as Dana prepared to snap the ball — or, in this case, the bouquet
The trolley made its final stops in Philadelphia, where a hotel reception was awaiting them.
But before they got there, Joe and Dana posed in front of City Hall, stopping traffic in the heart of the city.
When the photos appeared on Prezant’s Web site, they became a sensation. More than 1 million people viewed them in the first 48 hours, he said.
They shine a new light on the charisma-challenged Flacco, who has been called the most boring quarterback in the NFL
Was his wedding the best day of his life? he was asked.
“I guess so,” he said. Then he thought better of it, and added, “I better say yes.”
Flacco and his teammates play the San Francisco 49ers a week from tomorrow at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans.