'I Can Never Hate LA': Von Miller Remembers Rams as Bills Visit Looms
The Los Angeles Rams' relatively new Hollywood settings are sustained primarily by depictions of revenge and reunions.
Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller is, fortunately, not interested in the former.
The future Hall-of-Famer, already an intimidating prescience as is, will obviously, undoubtedly be searching for a victory when he and his new Western New York employers descend upon his former SoFi Stadium offense on Thursday night (5:20 p.m. PT, NBC). But the opponent won't make things any sweeter, as Miller isn't taking things personally, a stark Week 1 contrast to Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield's potential mindset upon his return to Cleveland.
Some of Miller's final public statements before the Bills set off for Inglewood expressed his appreciation for Thursday's opponent, as John Wawrow of the Associated Press noted that the linebacker rattled off a list of lasting connections he made in a brief yet fruitful tenure out west.
“I can never hate L.A.," Miller said. "They came and got me at a time when I really needed that. They refreshed me."
To the defender's point, the first parts of last season saw him working with a meandering Denver Broncos team that originally welcomed him in with the second pick of the 2011 draft. While Miller, the Super Bowl 50 MVP and 2010s All-Decade Team nominee, was returning to his elite form after missing the entire 2020 season but it was clear that he had done all he could in the Rockies. The final non-specialist from that championship over Carolina was sent to Los Angeles for two draft picks, where he contributed 31 tackles, including 12 for a loss, over the final eight regular season contests.
Miller fully found his groove during the Rams' own Super Bowl run, notably earning two sacks, a pass breakup, and three further quarterback hits in the championship finale against Cincinnati. That led to the Bills, armed with Super aspirations of their own, to bestow the 33-year-old Miller a six-year, $120 million contract to be part of what they hope are the final steps of a championship journey. Buffalo has earned three playoff wins in the last two AFC tournaments but has not reached the final contest since 1994.
The literally icy atmospheres of Western New York certainly seem like a downgrade from the SoCal sunshine, but Miller claimed that the demotion is from purely an irrelevant aesthetic standpoint. The shock of trading long days for nights has long dissipated.
"Being here in western New York ... I just feel at home. I’ve fallen in love with the place, and it just gets better and better each and every day," Miller said. "Being here for the start of OTAs, it's definitely put me at peace. I'm excited to go. I'm ready to go win a Super Bowl for the Buffalo Bills."
The Rams thus face an immediate, familiar threat to their dreams of a repeat, one that should undoubtedly feature some high-scoring antics thanks to the united 2022 debuts of Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson, Matthew Stafford, and more.
Miller will serve as a leader on a young defensive unit that will look to make an immediate impact, especially after giving up both a late game-tying drive in a mere 13 seconds of game time before losing the AFC Divisional clash with Kansas City in overtime. Seven of Buffalo's projected defensive starters arrived as draft picks in 2017 or later. Rookies Kaiir Elam, Christian Benford, and Terrel Bernard are all expected to play big roles.
Despite losing Miller, the Rams maintain plenty of defensive firepower, not least of which includes linebackers Justin Hollins and Terrell Lewis. Head coach Sean McVay believes that the two bonded well with veteran Leonard Floyd and that they were on pace for a solid season as it was long before Miller showed up.
"They played really good football for us when you look back to prior to us getting Von last year. Those have (done) really good things," McVay said. "Those three guys have really stood out to me from the outside position.”
Reciprocating Miller's love, Hollins said he couldn't blame his former blue-and-yellow mentor for getting his big check and was pleased to have a championship experience by his side.
Of course, when it's not personal, it's all business.
"I don't feel like we need to fill anybody's shoes. It's just a next-man-up type of thing," Hollins said. "I'm happy for him and what he's accomplished, what he did for us and you know the great contract he got with the Buffalo Bills. But we play them Week 1 so we just got to put that behind us.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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