Tucked away on Camp Courtney, the U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa, Japan, is a hill that once tested a group of 7- and 8-year-old boys who dreamed about football.

The voice of a Marine master sergeant still echoes in the back of 25-year-old Khalil Shakir's head, urging him to run faster to the top. The Okinawa sun beat down on the boys as their shoes beat into the pavement, their lungs burning by the time they reached the peak.

"I want to go back one day and look at the hill and see if it was as big as I remember," Shakir said.

Memories of long days at youth tackle football practice, followed by sprints up that hill, bring the Bills wide receiver back to where he first learned about discipline and never giving in.

As if endless repetitions up and down weren't enough, every run came u

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