Good morning, Broncos Country!
So it's here. The awful offseason. The season we fill our time with rumors, scouting reports, mock drafts, cap casualty calculations, March Madness brackets... (well, that last one is pretty fun actually).
Thank goodness we end up with three fewer weeks of the offseason than just about every other team. Why? Because in case you hadn't heard, we're still reigning Super Bowl Champs - and in my mind, we'd be well-advised to just focus on that for the next month until free agency gets underway in earnest, OTAs begin and ultimately the NFL Draft rolls around.
Oh, but I know, the other stuff is just so tantalizing. So thank goodness for Von Miller, who as Super Bowl MVP has been on just about every television show imaginable and continues hitting it out of the park with his suits, his smile and his glasses.
But aside from his comments to ESPN's Jeff Legwold that he expects a peaceful contract negotiation and that he trusts John Elway, my favorite thing Miller has done in the past two weeks is write an essay for The Player's Tribune that came out yesterday.
Absolutely the best 20 minutes you'll spend today. Von Miller - nerd, chicken farmer, MVP. https://t.co/U1dBJyYpno pic.twitter.com/3VNGNQmwKa
— L.Lattimore-Volkmann (@docllv) February 19, 2016
There are several great stories he and his best friends - former Texas A&M teammates Tony Jerod-Eddie, Damontre Moore and Cyrus Gray - tell about our star linebacker that will put a huge smile on your face and make you forget any of the drama we've encountered since ... what? Oh, yeah...WINNING THE SUPER BOWL!
Definitely read the essay yourself because it will be the best 20 minutes you spend today, but here are my favorite excerpts:
Night before AFC Championship game:
Damontre: We're all sitting at Von's house the night before the AFC championship game. This dude turns on a show about the 10 most exotic extinct animals. Biggest game of this dude's life coming up, and he's talking about the Dodo Bird. Then he put on a documentary about coral reefs. He was so adamant about it.
Von: It's relaxing. Sometimes I like to relax. Come on. Back to peewee football.
Getting past 'Mr. Miller':
My dad was shutting me down. So I started working on my mom. I started wearing her down. You know how it's done:
"Mom. Mom. Mom, come on. I'll make my bed every day. I'll mow the lawn. Mom, just let me play football. I'm ready!"
Thank God for my mom. She finally broke down one day.
"Alright Von, I'll let you play. But listen to me. This has to be our secret. Do not tell your father."
My mom and dad have been together for 27 years. They tell each other everything. So this had to be a CIA operation. I couldn't even have my pads in the house. I'd get undressed in the back of her Suburban after practice and then we'd leave the pads in the back seat with a blanket over them.
The Pee Wee 'Vonster'
Let me paint a picture for the people at home. Texas. September. Eight teams playing back-to-back-to-back-to-back on one field. Starting at 8 a.m., until it got dark. People would literally be tailgating at the field all day.
This an alpha, macho Texas football vibe. And I'm rolling up with my mom in the Suburban, getting dressed out of the back of the trunk. Skinny little nerd with the Rec Specs strapped over his helmet.
I got it bad. I got called every name you can think of.
But the thing about football is, it's not the playground. If you call me four-eyes on the playground, you can laugh in my face and I can't touch you without getting detention. On a Texas football field, I could run your ass over.
Super Bowl MVP 'Vonster'
People have asked me 5,000 times this week, "How did you guys beat Cam Newton? What was your game plan?"
I was driving around with Tony in San Francisco the night before the game. We were talking like we normally do. We never talk about football. But I asked him, "What do I have to do out there to be a Super Bowl champion?"
And Tony told me, "Just do what you been doing since you were a kid. Get after that ball, and you'll win the Super Bowl."
Miller, the chicken farmer - 'for real, bruh'
Cyrus:
You're the first Super Bowl MVP with a tattoo of a rooster, I'm pretty sure about that.Von:
Roosters are dope.Tony:
You might be the Super Bowl MVP. You might have been on SNL. But you still a nerd, bruh.
You really just need to read the rest for yourself before I spoil it for you.
But I promise you, it is outstanding.
From watching dodo bird documentaries to wearing big-ass specs to terrorizing QBs on the football field, this guy was one outstanding draft pick in 2011, and I have no doubt he'll soon be one outstanding Broncos linebacker for life.
And in honor of the NFL Combine coming up next week, enjoy this throwback to Miller's 2011 Scouting Combine Workout:
Von Miller's 2011 NFL Scouting Combine Workout
Horse Tracks
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