12 Hours with the Diggs Brothers

Full Frame is Sports Illustrated’s exclusive newsletter for subscribers, highlighting the stories and personalities behind some of SI’s photography every other week.

To get the best of SI in your inbox every weekday, sign up here. To see even more from SI’s photographers, follow @sifullframe on Instagram. If you missed our story on the Old Course at St. Andrews, you can find it here.

There was only an hour of daylight left in Silver Spring, Md., when the cover portrait finally started. Stefon and Trevon Diggs were on their 12th hour with the Sports Illustrated crew. They had played pick-up basketball, lifted weights, shopped for Mother’s Day gifts and grabbed lunch at a spot near the University of Maryland. The Diggs brothers had a full day’s worth of activities under their belt before they even stepped in front of photographer Simon Bruty. Anyone—even two of the most explosive players in the NFL—would be exhausted. But that didn’t stop them, Bruty says, from buying into it immediately.

“[We] turned up the music as loud as possible so they couldn’t hear me, and then we just got to it,” Bruty says. “They got a good burst of energy from their own music. I wanted to try to make it really playful, right at the end of the evening.”

This playfulness meant that Bruty was photographing from everywhere, barely coaching the two brothers except for the occasional instruction to move under the lights. Behind-the-scenes photos show a stream of spontaneous movements. Bruty ran around and climbed up and down the scaffolding to capture different angles of the Diggs brothers.

One of the highlights: a photo of the two of them jumping for the ball in a classic cornerback-vs.-wide receiver battle.

“During the portrait shoot, that was the thing we looked for … but throughout the day, it wasn’t really so football oriented. It was just two brothers,” said Erick Rasco, the director of photo operations at SI. “They’re normal brothers that have their own dynamic and own personalities.”

It’s no secret that Trevon, the younger of the two, is more reserved. But photographing them together, Bruty says, meant that Stefon could take the lead and guide his younger brother out of his shell.

Both players arrived with a slew of colorful clothing, but in true older brother fashion, Stefon helped Trevon pick out a lot of what he wore, and the two talked through each style change together. From a pastel sweater and monochrome pantsuit to embroidered jeans, graphic tees and designer sunglasses, the Diggs brothers came well-equipped to step out of their usual blue uniforms.

Key to the look was the brothers’ jewelry: thick chains sit just above their chest in each of the pictures, and diamond-covered watches hang off their wrists as they lock into one of their routine video game battles.

“The brothers knew what they were gonna wear. I think you can see that in the images. They look like they’re having fun,” Bruty says. “It’s always hard to create that relaxed feel, to be honest with you, but one way of doing it is to make sure that they are wearing something that they’re happy with.”

In addition to their outfits, the brothers’ personalities came out to play as they took liberty with the rest of their appearance. While they prepared for the session, they jokingly threatened each other with barber equipment.“

You definitely see what their family dynamic is like after over the course of a day. That’s the big difference. You wouldn’t get that in a single hour of photoshoot necessarily,” Rasco says.

Have questions, comments, or feedback about Sports Illustrated‘s newsletters? Send a note to josh.rosenblat@si.com.