Henrico teacher makes his mark on the Super Bowl, continues chalkboard mural tradition

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- Short Pump Middle School art teacher Brendan Rossner's Super Bowl tradition may stun you. Because of the detail and magnitude of the piece, many find it hard to believe it's created solely with classic classroom chalk.

"This is definitely my magnum opus, if you will," Rossner said.

Credit: Brendan Rossner

Rossner has been drawing the two teams up for the top NFL title on a classroom chalkboard since 2010. In the beginning, New Orleans and Indianapolis were set to go head-to-head. Rossner chalked Drew Brees and Peyton Manning, the teams' quarterbacks, and he said students buzzed with excitement.

"The next year, I went a little further. I added the Super Bowl logo, started expanding out, trying to use all the chalkboard space and eventually now we are where we are now," Rossner said.

Rossner said this year's mural took about 10 hours to complete. He crafts an image digitally and minimizes the number of colors in the photo. Then, he projects it on one of the only chalkboards left at the school. He then carefully adds detail with chalk.

Rossner's classroom is home to one of the last chalkboards at Short Pump Middle School. He said the custodian staff kindly moved his current chalkboard from another section of the school into his art room specifically for this project.

Many of his students expect to see the mural, whether they've heard about it through the grapevine or had older siblings in Rossner's class. For others, it's a complete surprise.

"It's cool to flex a little bit of skill and let them know that their teacher, you know, can also make some cool stuff," Rossner said.

As a nearly lifelong Buffalo Bills fan, Rossner hopes to one day cover the chalkboard in blue and red. He said he is already planning for the Bills masterpiece, leaving only an 8x10 section for the team they'd be playing against.