Von Miller Posed a Question to the Man in the Mirror & Didn't Like the Answer
Von Miller is coming off what many of his critics have described as a lackluster 2019 campaign. For only the second time in his prolific career, Miller failed to reach double-digit sack totals.
The only other time the Denver Broncos' star pass rusher failed to post at least 10 sacks in a season was back in 2013 — a year plagued by a six-game suspension to start and a torn ACL to finish.
With Miller being on the wrong side of 30, doubt crept into the hearts of some fans who wondered whether Father Time had simply begun to extract his inexorable pound of flesh. What some of Miller's worst critics failed to recognize was the multitude of coinciding factors that might have contributed to his less-than-stellar season, including a knee injury he nursed, a new system, and no bonafide complement to rush the passer opposite of him for most of the season.
Considering the circumstances, and what we know about Miller, there's a good chance he would have hit the 2020 offseason motivated to perhaps dig a little deeper and work to prove his critics wrong. Then three watershed moments occurred.
1. Kobe Bryant died.
2. The COVID-19 Pandemic hit.
3. ESPN debuted The Last Dance.
These three pivotal moments combined to spark a mighty change of heart in the Super Bowl 50 MVP, as we learned on Tuesday.
“With what we went through last year as a team, I was wanting to invest in myself and I was wanting to work," Miller said via virtual presser on Tuesday. "This offseason started off just like every other offseason. I went to the Super Bowl, and I started off working in San Francisco on January 4. Then I went to the Superbowl, I still had plans to go to the Kentucky Derby and then the virus hit. I’ll go back even before that. First, Kobe [Bryant] died and it kind of struck me. It hit right before we went out for the Pro Bowl. We were in the locker room and we were talking about it. That kind of started it for me."
Miller was motivated but something about Kobe's death affected him, like many athletes and regular people, on a deep level.
"Then, the virus hit," Miller continued. "The virus canceled everything. It canceled the Kentucky Derby and it canceled festivals that I would usually go to every year like Coachella and Rolling Loud. It canceled all these endorsements and all the things that I would usually do in the offseason."
Suddenly, Miller was adrift without a paddle. The cancelation of his entire offseason calendar, for all intents and purposes, created an opportunity for deeper reflection.
"I thought about what I could do over this time, and I said, ‘Man, I’m going to train. I’m going to train every day, and I’m going to train as much as I possibly can.’ That’s what I did," Miller said. "I got lost in that. Then ‘The Last Dance’ came out and I watched what Michael Jordan was doing back in his prime, and I asked myself, ‘Michael Jordan was the best that ever played. Was I really making that commitment to the game? Was I really doing the same things that he did?’ Kobe was one of the best that ever played."
This ultimately caused Miller to look in the mirror and ask some difficult questions.
"Was I really doing the things that Kobe was doing? Was I demanding more out of my teammates? Was I demanding more out of myself? I looked in the mirror and I said I wasn’t," Miller admitted. "I just tried to change that and I tried to work as hard as I possibly could. I didn’t take any days off, I didn’t go on any vacations and I didn’t do anything but work out, grind and reinvest all the time that I would usually spend on endorsements. I just reinvested that time back into myself.”
Miller's remarks were insightful and transparent. Frankly, they showed a vulnerability that belies his nearly decade-long reign of NFL dominance.
We're talking about one of these most revered players in the modern NFL. Miller is star inside and outside the Mile High City. He doesn't need to open up his heart and pour out publicly such personal, intimate self-reflection.
So what is the implication of him doing just that? I'll tell you.
Miller seems to have broken through to another level on his NFL path showing a maturity and wisdom on a level of his close friend and mentor DeMarcus Ware. Ware recently revealed that the key to Miller continuing to produce at an elite level well into his thirties will be the full embrace of being a leader and teacher, elevating the players around him so that opposing offenses simply can't afford to sell out to stop him.
That's what Ware did to extend his NFL shelf life and considering what we heard from Miller on Tuesday, and the insight he offered up, it's clear that all that knowledge he's built up over the years has translated to true wisdom.
Last week, Head Coach Vic Fangio said that Miller has a "hunger about his game" that he hasn't had the last few years. Miller confirmed his coach's opinion by virtue of his brave admission and recounting of the conversation he had with the man in the mirror.
Miller's teammates are buzzing about this new-look Von as well. Bradley Chubb has talked about it, as has Courtland Sutton.
If it means anything, it's that Miller is as motivated as ever. And maybe even motivated enough to grasp at the same level of greatness that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant embodied as professional athletes at the pinnacle of their game.
Miller seriously contemplated opting out of the 2020 season. But ultimately, the job the Broncos have done from a preventative standpoint to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 down to a minimal level, combined with the fact that Miller contracted and vanquished the virus earlier this year, gave him the confidence to push forward in his pursuit of Jordan- or Kobe-esque greatness.
“I thought about it, and when they gave us the option, I thought about all of my options," Miller said. "I thought about my family and I took serious consideration in the things that could possibly happen. For me, I think the Broncos are doing a great job keeping us safe. There are always holes and there are always going to be holes. We’re not in a total bubble. It’s not 100 percent like basketball, so there’s always going to be holes. I feel like the job that the Broncos are doing to keep us safe were enough for me not to opt out."
If Miller can embrace the mentor role with relish and elevate the players around him by passing on his knowledge, combined with the return of his pass-rushing partner Chubb, the arrival of an interior pocket-pusher in Jurrell Casey, and having one year in Fangio's scheme under his belt, there's no telling how high he can push in 2020. Based on what I've seen, I'm not going to bet against Miller.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHudde.
