Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman is one of several athletes featured in ESPN The Magazine’s Feb. 18 Music Issue. In the issue, various athletes recreate notably music album covers. The one of Alex Morgan looking like Katy Perry is getting most of the attention (for good reason), but this photo of Freeman dressing like Michael Jackson for the cover of the Thriller album is just incredible:
#MusicIssue @espnmag recreated iconic album covers w athletes. Bucs Josh Freeman (@jf5x) — Michael Jackson’s Thriller twitter.com/slp1313/status…
— Stacey Pressman (@slp1313) February 5, 2013
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the photoshoot was conducted in December on a players’ day off. Freeman, who is a fan of Jackson’s music, says he was stunned to see the resemblance between him and MJ once he put on the wig, makeup, and clothes.
“It all started with the hair,” Freeman says in a behind-the-scenes video. “You know, you’ve got to get the hair right. I’m getting there. Just need a few things. It’s all about getting dressed, getting the outfit right, it’s little subtleties of looking more like him. You’re like, “I don’t look like him.’ Because you look at yourself almost every day. But the pics came out and I was like, ‘Wow, that’s crazy.'”
Below is a look at Jackson’s cover for comparison:
And here is the behind-the-scenes video:
Photo via Twitter/Stacey Pressman
