The untold story behind Steve Taneyhill’s iconic South Carolina-Clemson photo
November 22, 2018
THE STATE
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Steve Taneyhill knows he has a copy of it somewhere because, as the former South Carolina quarterback tells it, “There was like five old ladies from Columbia that sent my mom every picture, every article all four years I was here.”
The Nov. 22, 1992, edition of The State newspaper was a keeper for Gamecock fans because it told the story of how a brash Taneyhill and his teammates ended a four-game losing streak to Clemson with a 24-13 win in Death Valley. The game was chronicled in photos by The State’s Tim Dominick.
Dominick, on staff since 1983, still has the film sleeve from the afternoon Taneyhill threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns. The performance was stamped by a pretend signature of the Tiger paw and mocking bow to the Clemson faithful. The latter produced an iconic image that remains displayed in USC-themed bars, restaurants and homes. It’s even prominently featured in the chorus of a 2010 Patrick Davis song.
But here’s a secret behind that shot of Taneyhill and his outstretched arms: It almost didn’t make it to publication.
“With football games, there’s a lot of photos to go through,” Dominick said. “And somehow the Taneyhill one, that particular image, I didn’t see it at first. And our editor would go through behind us just to see if we missed anything. And she found it. She said, ‘This is different.’ ”
A face-less image can be frowned upon by photo purists, and all this one had was a player’s back and his arms. But the placement of Taneyhill’s white and garnet No. 18 jersey really popped against the sea of orange. So, after a last-minute review, it did run in the paper.
On an inside jump page.
“Toward the bottom,” Dominick said, “probably two columns at the most, maybe one.
“It wasn’t the lead picture out front, so I didn’t think any more about it. I thought it was a cool picture, but I didn’t think any more about it.”
Until he was put to work early the next week.
This was the early 1990s, when the Internet was in its infant stages and social media was far from born. One of the biggest photos in Carolina-Clemson history started small, but grew due to The State’s reprint service.
“The next day or two,” Dominick said, “Rosie Brooks, who handled our reprints, she said, ‘I’ve started to get a lot of calls for this print.’ So we’d sell 8 by 10s for like $10 or something and 10 by 14 for $15 or something like that.
November 22, 2018
THE STATE
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Steve Taneyhill knows he has a copy of it somewhere because, as the former South Carolina quarterback tells it, “There was like five old ladies from Columbia that sent my mom every picture, every article all four years I was here.”
The Nov. 22, 1992, edition of The State newspaper was a keeper for Gamecock fans because it told the story of how a brash Taneyhill and his teammates ended a four-game losing streak to Clemson with a 24-13 win in Death Valley. The game was chronicled in photos by The State’s Tim Dominick.
Dominick, on staff since 1983, still has the film sleeve from the afternoon Taneyhill threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns. The performance was stamped by a pretend signature of the Tiger paw and mocking bow to the Clemson faithful. The latter produced an iconic image that remains displayed in USC-themed bars, restaurants and homes. It’s even prominently featured in the chorus of a 2010 Patrick Davis song.
But here’s a secret behind that shot of Taneyhill and his outstretched arms: It almost didn’t make it to publication.
“With football games, there’s a lot of photos to go through,” Dominick said. “And somehow the Taneyhill one, that particular image, I didn’t see it at first. And our editor would go through behind us just to see if we missed anything. And she found it. She said, ‘This is different.’ ”
A face-less image can be frowned upon by photo purists, and all this one had was a player’s back and his arms. But the placement of Taneyhill’s white and garnet No. 18 jersey really popped against the sea of orange. So, after a last-minute review, it did run in the paper.
On an inside jump page.
“Toward the bottom,” Dominick said, “probably two columns at the most, maybe one.
“It wasn’t the lead picture out front, so I didn’t think any more about it. I thought it was a cool picture, but I didn’t think any more about it.”
Until he was put to work early the next week.
This was the early 1990s, when the Internet was in its infant stages and social media was far from born. One of the biggest photos in Carolina-Clemson history started small, but grew due to The State’s reprint service.
“The next day or two,” Dominick said, “Rosie Brooks, who handled our reprints, she said, ‘I’ve started to get a lot of calls for this print.’ So we’d sell 8 by 10s for like $10 or something and 10 by 14 for $15 or something like that.