In the mid-80's Budweiser had a college mascot poster program that took the cartoon mascots of college football teams and made them fierce warriors. 
The illustrators commissioned were the best working in the business at this time. This piece is from that program. The additional photos are from a write up in Art Direction Magazine, October 1990, of the Creative Director, David Bartels and some other examples from the series.

Gary Kelley is a very important commercial artist.

Gary Kelley has studied painting and design at the University of Northern Iowa earning a BA in art. His early career focused on graphic design and art direction until the late 1970’s when painting and design experiences merged into career as illustrator. Here is part of his bio from his website.

As an illustrator, his awards have included 27 gold and silver medals from the Society of Illustrators in New York; also Best-In-Show recognition in New York and Los Angeles Illustrators’ Exhibitions. He was elected to Society of illustrators (NY) Hall of Fame 2007.

His list of clients includes work for Time, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and Playboy Magazines. Also, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, The Santa Fe Opera and Geffen Playhouse, plus numerous advertising and design firms. He created the murals featuring famous authors for Barnes and Noble Bookstores nationwide. Has also worked for the NFL and the NBA and was the official artist for the 2002 Kentucky Derby.

Gary Kelley has illustrated a number of picture books, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, The Necklace, Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination and Macbeth for Young Readers.

Gary has had one-man-shows at the Academy of Art in Cincinnati, The University of the Arts (Philadelphia), Lustrare Gallery (New York), Every Picture Tells a Story (Santa Monica), Hartford (CT) Art School, Art Institute of California (Laguna Beach), The Kentucky Derby Museum, Creation Gallery in Tokyo, and the Pablo Neruda Cultural Center-Bagnolet (Paris) France. Group shows include; The Normon Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge, MA), The Chicago Art Istitute, The Museum of American Illustration (NY), School of Visual Arts (NY), The McNay Art Museum – San Antonio, Mystic Seaport Museum (CT) and Librarie Nicaise in Paris.