Having lofty dreams is what drove a Texan kid with poor eyesight named Von Miller all the way to becoming a perennial All-Pro and Pro Bowl pass rusher and a Super Bowl MVP to boot. Miller's boundless ambitions have him preparing for the next stage of his career path.
Miller has been shadowing Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week. 9NEWS' Mike Klis caught up with the prolific sack artist, where Miller revealed his goal to one day run his own NFL team by becoming a GM in the future.
“This is what I want to do,’’ Miller told Klis. “I wanted to do this one time before in college when I took my poultry science class and I sat in that class and said If I don’t make it in the NFL and it doesn’t work out, this is what I want to do.”
Apart from his own former general manager with the Denver Broncos — John Elway — only former Baltimore Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome and San Francisco's John Lynch have climbed to the top of the NFL front-office ladder and found success there in the wake of their playing careers. However, Miller revealed to Klis that his GM "dream" was inspired by Elway — the Duke of Denver himself.
“To be honest, the dream it really started with John,’’ Miller said of Elway. “To see a former player come back in the league and be a GM and win a Super Bowl as a player and win a Super Bowl as a GM? Oh my gosh. That’s where the dream really started. John Elway won a Super Bowl on the field and off the field. He’s the GOAT.”
A decade-plus removed from his 16-year Hall-of-Fame playing career, Elway assumed the mantle of Denver's top football executive back in 2011 under late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. Elway led the Broncos to five straight division titles, two Super Bowl berths, and a World Championship, thanks, in large part, to the impact that his first-ever draft pick made on the big stage.
Elway selected Miller No. 2 overall back in 2011 in his first-ever draft class as an NFL executive. What ensued was a great GM/player partnership that paid rich dividends to the Broncos for years.
Miller was traded to the Rams in 2021 by then-first-year Broncos GM George Paton, with Elway's blessing, ostensibly, who still served as the team's president of football operations at the time. A couple of years removed from that emotional breakup, Miller understands the importance of gaining boots-on-the-ground experience in his pursuit to one day become an NFL GM.
“I don’t have any experience,” Miller admitted. “I know what a great football team looks like. I know what a winning football team looks like. A great staff, great equipment guys, great athletic trainers. I know what that looks like, I know what it takes to build those teams but that’s it. So I’m here to meet with guys, for the guys to give me instructions on what to do with my right foot next and what to do with my left foot next. And make the first steps to making this happen.”
Playing on championship teams in Denver and Los Angeles gave Miller a feel for how a team needs to be constructed to win ball games. That being said, in the big, bad world of pro football, the politics and maneuverings that happen behind the scenes also need to be carefully navigated.
Much like how Miller re-dedicated himself to the game early in his career by seeking out the guidance Hall-of-Famer DeMarcus Ware, he's very shrewdly following suit now with Beane, but with a whole different goal in mind.
Shooting for the stars is part of Miller's core DNA, so Broncos Country will undoubtedly wish him well in his future endeavors.
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