BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD

Jacobson’s productivity waned in recent years, but his serendipitous social media interaction with Shivers provided much-needed motivation.

Why not try to draw a new OSU Sportoon?

“He spent a lot of time trying to figure out who to draw,” his son Erik says. “It just became more and more logical to do Mike Gundy because Dad is a big admirer of not just his teams but his coaching methods and the way he looks after his players. So it was a labor of love to pour himself into honoring that.”

“Erik and I looked up photographs of Coach Gundy online, and I thought this particular one with the headphones kind of looked different from the rest and was a little more lively and so forth. So that was my reference.

“I think the thing that surprised me a little bit was the fact that, as an old man, my hand doesn’t shake. My eyes water badly, and sometimes I’ve got paint on the brush and I’m about ready to put it down, and now I can’t see the paper because my eyes are all teared up so I’d have to take off my glasses, wipe my eyes ... but it wasn’t too bad. I was a little worried about the likeness, but I think that came out okay.”

“This all happened in mid-winter and when we started on the project to do the Gundy thing, Dad got really sick. In fact, it was kind of dicey there for a while,” Erik admits. “But what kept him going — and he said this several times — was the painting. He’d say, ‘I want to see how this turns out.’ He was sick as a dog in there, standing and drawing and painting … It seemed like what kept him going and what got him through that particular health crisis was that painting.”

Last May, Shivers presented the finished framed Sportoon and original acrylic painting to Gundy in his Boone Pickens Stadium office.

“Wow,” Gundy said upon seeing the art for the first time. “Pretty dang good. The amount of detail is incredible.”

The artwork now hangs on Gundy’s wall, where it has become a conversation piece, along with a vintage game program Jacobson illustrated in 1954.

“Everyone wants to know where I got it. There have been a few people who said they’d like to have it.

“It’s great to see someone doing what they love,” Gundy adds. “And to still be on top of their craft like that, it’s really impressive.”

“The whole thing was kind of wild and weird,” Jacobson says. “Luckily I didn’t spill too many splotches of paint in the wrong places on it and screw it up too badly. It finally ended up in Gundy’s hands, which is pretty bizarre, really.

“Life’s funny.”

Like a Sportoon.

T.C. BREWSTER STOOD JUST BEYOND THE BACK OF A LEVI’S STADIUM END ZONE IN JANUARY, THE ONE WITH THE BLOCK-LETTERED CLEMSON PAINTED IN ORANGE AND OUTLINED IN PURPLE, READYING FOR ACTION AT THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.

The action came sudden and swift.

SEVEN PLAYS INTO THE GAME, CLEMSON’S A.J. TERRELL JUMPED A PASS FROM ALABAMA QUARTERBACK TUA TAGOVAILOA, GATHERED IT IN AND SPRINTED FOR THE END ZONE — AND FOR BREWSTER.

45… 40… 35… 30… 25…

“IT ALMOST FELT LIKE THE GUY WAS RUNNING RIGHT TOWARD ME,” SAID BREWSTER, AN OKLAHOMA STATE STUDENT WORKING ON CFP’S SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM. 20… 15… 10… 5… TOUCHDOWN!