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SO CRAZY, IT JUST MIGHT WORK

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Stevie Johnson, Bills Receiver

Photograph By Dustin Snipes for ESPN The Magazine

The Crossover

"As a kid, I'd practice by lining up against my older cousin, and he used to tell me, 'Be elusive. Do something to make me miss you.' I was a basketball player, so all I could think was, okay, let me try my crossover move. So I used it, and from then on he couldn't stop me. "In the NFL, guys don't train for basketball receivers, so when I line up one-on-one against someone like Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman, I give them hoops moves. I don't have the speed to burn right past defenders, but I know how to get open with quick jab steps and shoulder fakes." as told to Sam Monson