This story appears in the Aug. 27, 2018, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine — and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
I've loved football since I was five, when I first tied flags around my waist and sprinted up and down the fields in North Carolina. As far back as I can remember, I was flying around the house with a football, jumping onto the couch the way Walter Payton leaped into the end zone, extending my arm and flicking my wrist like LaDainian Tomlinson's stiff arm, studying Barry Sanders to understand how he did what he did.