Brandon Lloyd Is Ready for His Close-Up

It wasn't long ago that Patriots wide receiver Brandon Lloyd made headlines for smiling ear-to-ear while diving into the end-zone. Now, we all know that Lloyd has the apparent ability to jump over tiny vehicles. Late last week, a video showing him leaping over a purple Smart Car began making the rounds:

The clip is a commercial for MobiSquad, a company whose technology allows small businesses to accept payment via cell phones. “Obviously, I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize my career,” Lloyd told the Herald’s Karen Guregian, “… so we can say I jumped a car for small business.”

Clearly, Lloyd didn’t actually try to clear a moving automobile (even if it was a glorified bullpen car). But his superhuman hops are real. “It wasn’t shot on green screen, and we’ve got a really, really good film editing team,” MobiSquad CEO Nate Reis, who mutual friends introduced to Lloyd a few years ago, said on Friday. “But he definitely jumped that high.”

The stunt, he added, was Lloyd’s idea. While visiting MobiSquad's Arizona-based headquarters on a blistering hot day this summer, the receiver had an epiphany. “Kobe [Bryant] jumped over an Aston Martin,” Reis remember Lloyd saying. “I want to jump over the Smart Car.” (The Kobe video is from 2008.)

If you think Lloyd’s jumping ability is freakish, check out the other video he starred in that sweltering afternoon. This one, Reis said, involved no camera tricks. In it, a MobiSquad crew member armed with a T-shirt cannon shoots a balled up shirt at Lloyd from close range. It took multiple takes, but eventually Lloyd caught the projectile—with one hand.

Apparently, the receiver is also a mensch. Reis said Lloyd made the videos for free.