University of Richmond Athletics
Focus, Family, and Football: Joe Allen’s Richmond Story
10/27/2025 | Football
By Christian Gravius, Associate Director of Athletics Public Relations
Joe Allen answered his phone from a hotel in the Dominican Republic.
It was the University of Richmond football team’s bye week. With the Spiders off the field, so was Joe.
“This is one of my stomping grounds,” Joe said, laughing.
He was there for the third time this year, working on a calendar project for a hotel in Puerto Plata on the north coast of the island. As a professional photographer who specializes in portrait work, Joe usually captures individual subjects and groups through his lens.
But on Saturdays in the fall, his focus shifts — to the Spiders.
Joe is at every game, home and away, providing photography support for the Athletics public relations department — never asking for anything in return besides access to the team and school he loves so much.
If the Spiders are there, so is Joe. This season, he hasn’t missed a game, even the 300-plus-mile trip to Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., which required him to book a flight and rent a car.
A former offensive lineman for the Spiders, Joe backed up Richmond Athletics Hall of Famer Rodney Elam during his first two seasons on the team.
He graduated from Richmond in 1979, and, after taking some time away from the school and program, he’s been giving back increasingly over the past decade.
“I spent a lot of time away from UR,” Joe said. “My first 20 years out, I probably didn’t come back a handful of times.”
Joe began photographing Richmond football in 2015, reconnecting with the program. What started as a few sideline shots quickly became a season-to-season tradition that’s lasted ever since.
For him, it’s not about recognition or compensation — it’s about staying connected to a team, a school, and a set of values that shaped who he became.
“It’s a passion,” he said of photography. “I can really relax behind the camera, and with photography, even when you’re comfortable with it, there will always be a challenge — with your equipment, with the lighting, with the weather.”
“It keeps me active and keeps me around the young men,” said the 69-year-old, who can often be seen wearing knee pads on the sidelines of Spiders games as he kneels to get the best angles.
Born and raised in the nation’s capital, Joe returned to Washington, D.C. after earning his sociology degree from Richmond.
Originally, he planned to pursue a career in law enforcement, but a persistent knee injury — one that ended his college football career — also kept him from being accepted to several law enforcement agencies.
Always looking for a way to give back and serve others, Joe shifted his focus to firefighting. He eventually went on to serve as a Washington, D.C., firefighter. Over the course of his career, he worked at nearly all 33 stations in the city, spending most of his time at Engine 23 in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood on the campus of George Washington University.
Photography has always interested Joe. He owns a business and website and works with clients, including hotels in the Dominican Republic and an organization in his hometown of Washington, D.C., that puts on fashion shows for breast cancer survivors.
“The photography was always there and always a hobby,” Joe said, recalling that he kept a camera in his dorm during his time at Richmond.
Since his college days, Joe has worked as a photographer for modeling shoots, fashion shows and weddings — and still does to this day. While he played football, he never photographed it until recently, when he rekindled his connection with the team.
“About 10 years ago, I had an urge to come back and get involved,” he said. “I wasn’t really involved and thought I should be. I said to myself, ‘That’s crazy. That’s a big part of our lives and our development.’ I started by coming back and going to the games, and started taking pictures soon after. I have to thank Greg Mitchell for that.”
Greg, a fellow lineman and Washingtonian who played under head coach Jim Tait with Joe, had been shooting Richmond sports for a while.
“I put a bug in his ear and said, ‘I want to do that too. Can you help me get involved?’”
Lately, Joe’s sideline presence has taken on an even deeper meaning. He now brings his 6-year-old grandson, Xavier, to home games at Robins Stadium.
His only grandchild, Joe calls Xavier his “why.”
A kindergartner with a camera often seen hanging from his neck, Xavier is already learning the craft from his grandfather. From pregame warmups to postgame celebrations, Xavier can be spotted roaming the sideline, soaking in the atmosphere and mimicking Joe’s every move behind the lens.
Not only is he learning the art of photography, but he’s also learning what it means to be a Spider — and a resilient one.
Xavier was born with radial club syndrome, a condition where the radius bone in the forearm is underdeveloped or missing. This causes the hand and wrist to turn inward toward the thumb. As a result, he has a significantly shorter right arm than his left and can’t make a fist with his right hand.
“It’s never been an issue,” Joe said of Xavier’s condition. “You see the way I treat him. I make him do everything everyone else does.”
“I told him, ‘You just have to work around it.’”
Although medical professionals have advised against contact sports like football, Xavier’s condition hasn’t diminished his love for the game — a passion he shares with his grandfather. Attending games together has become a highlight for the 6-year-old, keeping him connected to the sport even if he may never play it himself.
The team has noticed — and embraced — both Joe and Xavier. Senior long snapper Brian Catanzarite makes a point to greet Joe and Xavier before and after every game.
“It shows how much pride he and other alumni take in being a Spider,” Catanzarite said. “He spends countless hours traveling to take pictures for us at our games, and it really shows how much he cares. He’s always going out of his way to talk to us at games and get to know us, which really means a lot.”
It’s become a tradition the team has come to love, and one that underscores the tight-knit culture surrounding the program.
“Seeing Joe at every game is really special,” Catanzarite said. “And getting to know his grandson is also great. He started off shy, but each time we see him he gets a little bit more comfortable with us. Their bond is so fun to watch, and you can tell how much Xavier looks up to his grandfather.”
Joe has also formed a unique bond with sophomore linebacker Blake Houser, who shares more than just a Richmond jersey with him. Both are alumni of DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Md., a connection that sparked sideline conversations and mutual respect. While they may have graduated five decades apart from each other, Houser has expressed his appreciation for Joe’s ongoing support and presence around the program, knowing the value of having someone who’s walked the same path.
“I’ve talked with Joe many times,” Houser said. “Whether it was after practice or after games, I see him all the time, and it’s just awesome to see a fellow DeMatha Stag who was also a Spider come support us and take great photos.”
Joe’s photos are more than just a hobby — they’re his way of giving back to a place he credits with giving so much to him. He shares his photos with the team and alumni, saying he does his best to send them to as many people as he can.
“I have lifetime friends that I made at UR,” Joe said. “When I came in, they were still integrating, and Weldon Edwards was still there.”
Edwards, now a member of the Richmond Athletics Hall of Fame, was the first Black football player at Richmond, breaking the program’s color barrier during a pivotal period in the school’s history.
“Of course, there were some challenges, but I never had any real issues,” Joe said. “The team all got along, and I still stay in contact with many to this day.”
Joe’s impact extends far beyond providing photos. He’s a steward of the school and football program, often reaching out to former teammates about ways to get involved and stay connected.
And when Joe sees recruits on the sidelines of games, he’s quick to strike up a conversation with them and their families.
“I tell them, ‘This is an excellent school, and you probably won’t find a better one,’” he said.
Whether he’s photographing from the end zone, teaching Xavier how to frame a shot or chatting with players about shared roots, Joe’s impact on Richmond football is as clear as his photos. His contributions extend far beyond the images he takes — he’s capturing a legacy, one frame at a time.
