CNN names KC photojournalist’s Mahomes photo among best of 2024

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - An iconic shot of Patrick Mahomes’ cracked helmet snapped by a local photographer is being acclaimed as one of the top photos on the planet in 2024.

CNN included the photo taken by photojournalist Emily Curiel of The Kansas City Star in its annual Year in Pictures gallery.

“Mine was probably the seventh photo as I was scrolling. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Curiel said. “It was so cool.”

Mahomes collided with a Dolphins defender in the third quarter of last season’s Wild Card game — the coldest ever played at Arrowhead Stadium, and the fourth coldest in NFL history.

“I had to pull my camera up because it was looking down,” Curiel recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, he’s coming! He’s coming!’ I kind of just waited until the moment happened, not realizing that his helmet had cracked. I was just waiting for that whole sequence to finish.”

It wasn’t until Curiel saw Mahomes exchanging his helmet for a new one that she decided to go back and look at the shot. She immediately sent it to her editor.

“It just kind of blew up,” Curiel said. “Everyone was texting me, emailing me, Twitter messaging me, Instagram. It just blew up.”

Now, Curiel can see her name listed among Pulitzer Prize winners and internationally acclaimed photographers.

“Being in the presence of those magical, awesome photographers, it’s kind of reassuring,” she said. “Like, ‘OK, I belong here. I can do this.’”

Curiel is an LA-native and first-generation college graduate of San Francisco State.

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