PIGSKIN RAPTURE: FOUR DAYS IN THE LIFE OF TEXAS FOOTBALL

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: What inspired you guys to create Pigskin Rapture?

RON JENKINS: Credit for the concept goes directly to publisher Rick Rinehart. Rick waited years — I believe he told me ten years — for the stars to align and the right kind of Texas football games to line up in a such a fashion that this could work.

MAC ENGEL: I'd love to take the credit, but it was Rick Rinehart one hundred percent. He had wanted to do it for a while, and he asked a friend in Denver if he knew a writer in Texas, which was me. And that was about it. Last spring, he found a stretch of four games and that was it. The rest he pretty much gave us carte blanche.

RON: Brilliant idea, Rick!

LSLL: I understand that the concept is four days of four games, but these are not just random four days of games. Each of these games is a spectacle. From Mojo on a Friday night to Texas-OU weekend to Cowboys vs. New England and Texans vs. Indy games. And you guys went even further and took photos to capture the cultural phenomenon that is Texas football. What sort of events did the photos capture?

MAC: Ron Jenkins did the legwork. I had a loose idea of what I wanted to do, and he was great in that everywhere I said I thought we should go, he did it. He did just such a good job of clicking everything we saw. That's not an easy thing to do. He caught the moment better than I ever could have imagined.

RON: The idea was to show the culture of Texas football, not only the action but to dig deeper and bring forth the spirit, which included everything from cooking burgers in the parking lots to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders performing at the ultimate football venue, the Cowboys’ home, AT&T Stadium.

LSLL: This is your fourth book, Mac. What can you tell us about your other three?

MAC: The first one was a rather fast turnaround about Tony Romo, done in 2007. The second was the history of Texas Stadium, which came out in ... 2008. I think. And the third was a bio with the long time former strength/conditioning coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Dr. Bob Ward.

LSLL: Ron, you have traveled the world as a freelance photographer. What was the creative process like in pulling the images together for Pigskin Rapture?

RON: From the beginning, this project was going to be photographed in “a day in the life of” style. This means, for the most part, running and gunning across the great state of Texas, shooting documentary style. My goal was to do justice for the state and its deep love for football with my images, to capture the mood and spirit in a way that was beautiful and also truthful.