"Didn't know if I was gonna play football again" - Von Miller shares inspirational story behind his return to win Super Bowl 2022
Von Miller began the 2021-2022 NFL season in the AFC West as a member of the Denver Broncos. Who would have thought that the season would end with him being a Super Bowl champion and a member of the Los Angeles Rams?
Not many, and that includes Von Miller himself.
During an interview with Sports Illustrated before Super Bowl LVI, which Miller and the Rams won 23-20 over the Cincinnati Bengals, the former Super Bowl MVP had this to say about his thoughts that he would never play the game he loved again.
"A year ago, I didn't even know if I was gonna play football again. I didn't know. I had so much going on in my life. I was injured. And then just dealing with so many things off the football field. I had my son, and just to be honest, I was scared about that. I didn't know what to expect. I had so many different things that I was dealing with. I didn't know if the Broncos were going to pick up my option," Miller said.
Miller expounded on how his mentality began to change with the transformation from Denver to joining Los Angeles.
"There's so many different things that I just I didn't even know about how my life would be and fast forward 365 days," Miller said. "I'm getting ready to play in the Super Bowl. It just kind of had an effect on me. The moment mentality. I didn't know anything about the moment mentality until I started to do research about those studies in college. Now you start to research, you realize... you see Kobe score all these points."
Miller also spoke about his admiration for the late Kobe Bryant and his mentality and attitude towards winning.
"When you start researching him, he gave his life to playing basketball. He gave his life to being the best basketball player he could possibly be. It started as a habit and created a lifestyle. It's just who Kobe was. It didn't matter who he's playing, no matter where he was at, what he was doing. It didn't matter if he was the coach of his daughter's team...no matter if he was the star player on a Lakers team," Miller said.
Von Miller ended his quote by speaking about his desire taking him to the limit in order to get better.
"It didn't matter if it was business movies, his mindset, and the things that he did and his life. He gave his all to his life. And I looked at myself like, 'Are you doing that?' A real honest question with myself, and I was like, bro, no, I'm not. I started training harder. I was always training hard. I was always doing everything I needed to be doing. But I made my life 24/7 about football, eating, sleeping, waking up, and early training," Miller finished.
Will Von Miller return to the Los Angeles Rams?
Von Miller leaves Denver having earned $143.7M in 10.5 seasons with the #Broncos, $52M more than any player in team history. Barring an extension in LA, he'll hit the free agent market for the first time in his career next March.
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Despite ending the 2021-2022 NFL season in triumphant fashion, the star linebacker who was the MVP of Super Bowl 50 is designated to become a free agent when the new league year begins on March 16.
Will the three-time All-Pro linebacker settle on a contract with Rams management and stay in Hollywood? Or will he decide to test free agency one last time for one final payday?
Von Miller is the first player in NFL history with multiple sacks in the Super Bowl for two different teams.
(Super Bowl 50 with Denver) https://t.co/VjOC1UdxrW
When the 2022-2023 season begins, Miller will be 33 years old. With two Super Bowl wins, a Super Bowl MVP and numerous other accolades and awards, he is a sure-fire lock for the Hall of Fame.
With nothing else to prove, Von Miller may give it one last chance at a big payday and test the waters in free agency in just a few weeks.
We will know the answer to this and other free agency questions starting on March 16.