John Battle has never wanted to just be a football player.
It is what Battle was told when he was growing up.
“My dad and my grandma instilled that in me,” Battle said. “Don’t be just a football player. Be something else.”
Be something else.
Those three words resonated with Battle ever since.
Battle has spent the last few years creating an identity outside of football and tapping into his creative side behind the camera lens.
“My grandparents were always big with recording family events, so I kind of fell in love with the camera,” Battle explained.
With the guidance of his family, Battle grew up surrounding himself with other activities in addition to playing sports.
“When I was young they had me in plays and had me pick up an instrument and learn how to play,” Battle said. “I was always kind of artsy in a sense.”
Battle started taking videos when he was in high school back in south Florida.
“At my high school we had a major,” Battle said. “My major was broadcast production. So, I helped produce the school news and focused on sports. I put up highlight videos of football games and basketball games. That’s where I originally fell in love with creating videos. That’s my first love.”
His love for videography is why Battle bought his own camera during the team’s trip to the 2016 Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla.
The team was given a Best Buy gift card, and Battle went a different route than his teammates on how to spend his money.
“Everybody else was getting video games and other stuff and I decided to get a camera,” Battle said. “I started shooting that night. I charged it up, put the SD card in and started practicing. I got good at it really quick, so it’s something I fell in love with doing.”
Battle started with impromptu photo shoots of his teammates and that quickly turned into much more.
While Battle’s intentions were to get back into video making, he wanted to master taking still photos first.
Soon after that, you could find Battle on the sidelines of LSU basketball games, gymnastics meets, baseball games and even Pro Day, a press pass around his neck and his camera in hand.
“Photography is something I’ve picked up that I liked the most out of all the things,” Battle said.
Battle took to Instagram to promote his photography where his bio reads: “Pictures Last Forever.”
Just like the game of football, Battle is still learning the ins and outs of photography. He has even sought the advice of the LSU staff photographers for tips and tricks.
“They all help me out and I just ask them questions,” Battle said.
Since the bowl trip in 2016, Battle has expanded to shooting even weddings and concerts during the offseason.
When football is said and done, Battle dreams of owning his own production company.
“Ultimately I want to have my own little network,” Battle said. “Like an ESPN or Oprah Winfrey or something like that. I’m not too sure how I’m going to do it, but that’s the end goal of it all.”
Being at LSU has helped Battle embrace different opportunities and capitalize on his passion for photography.
LSU fans may know Battle as the football player, or even the photographer, but in the defensive backs meeting room he is known as “Grandpa.”
Except Battle prefers “cool uncle.”
The defensive backs still see Battle as “Paw-Paw John” because of his veteran presence.
“(LSU safety) Ed Paris started that,” Battle said. “He was giving out nicknames in the DB room and gave me ‘Grandpa.’ That’s how it came about.”
Being one of the oldest players on the team, Battle’s experiences help out the younger defensive backs on the squad.
“He knows a lot about football and he has the answer to everything,” sophomore safety JaCoby Stevens said. “We learn a lot from him.”
Battle had his work cut out for him during the 2017 season to replace All-American and first round draft pick Jamal Adams. Now, Battle has been able to settle into his role and try to become the next LSU defensive back to land a spot on the NFL.
“They’re all good people,” Battle said of the younger defensive backs on LSU’s roster. “I don’t have to worry about trying to keep them on track. I just try to keep them focused and understand when it’s the time and place to play and when to be serious. I try to help them on the field and give them different tips that I have. I just try to keep the tradition alive.”
But get Battle on the gridiron, and he likes to be known as “Batman.”
Battle gave himself the nickname Batman after watching Justice League with then-roommate and former LSU teammate DJ Chark.
Battle and Chark started talking about superheroes and picked out ones that represented their personalities best. Chark said that he was going to start calling himself the Flash and Battle decided to go with his favorite childhood superhero, Batman.
“I grew up loving (Batman),” Battle said. “I just love how he’s always the first one to step ahead of everybody. Growing up, red and black was my favorite color. I liked the whole dark, bat thing. I thought it was pretty cool.”
Whether he’s taking photographs, being a mentor to his younger teammates or pretending to be his favorite childhood superhero, Battle is more than just a football player.
He is that something else. He’s anything but just a football player.