Miller and another opportunity for great moment

Every time Von Miller walked into the Denver Broncos complex over the past six seasons, he was greeted by a reminder, or 10, of the pinnacle of his playing career – Super Bowl 50.

On that February day in 2016, Miller ripped off the Lombardi Trophy for the Carolina Panthers. He finished with 2.5 catches, two of which resulted in Broncos touchdowns, six tackles and was the Super Bowl MVP. Images of that championship day are everywhere in the hallways of the Broncos’ suburban Denver facility: the catches, the celebrations, even the glittering trophy.

Miller passed those reminders for the last time on Nov. 1, the day the Broncos traded him to the Los Angeles Rams. As he left the facility that day, he noted, “Seeing the pictures as I walked out brought tears to my eyes, we’ll always have Super Bowl 50.”

The Broncos haven’t made the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl and Miller was often asked if he feared his prime was behind him. Now he’s days away from, as he used to say in Denver, “the opportunity for another big moment.” Miller will be a linebacker for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Mixed in with those very real tears he shed when he left Denver was the sudden, tangible idea that he might make it to the big stage again.

“After you win a Super Bowl, it changes your life…it really changes your life,” Miller stressed. “… I tell everybody, we’re one game away from soccer heaven.”

DeMarcus Ware, who was Miller’s teammate for three seasons with the Broncos and the player Miller said helped him make the leap from Pro Bowl player to all-time great, said Miller’s Super Bowl experience can bring a lot to the Rams’ locker room.

“With everything you expect on the line, he performed to the best of his ability,” Ware recalled. “I took pride in being a leader on that team, it was important to me. And I had done a lot of things in my career up to that point, but I didn’t have a ring until after that. Now, Von carries all that leadership, all those things you have to have, and when he talks, everybody knows that not only does he have a ring, but he played one of the best games himself to get it.”

“Absolutely it matters the way he played in those moments when they won the Super Bowl in Denver,” Rams coach Sean McVay noted. “… The guys believe that, his track record speaks for itself. His body of work, his resume, the way he carries himself, demands respect.”

Miller was a 26-year-old who had approached the top of his game during the 2015 season. That year was his fifth consecutive season in the playoffs after the Broncos won five straight AFC West titles. It was his second Super Bowl in a three-year span.

“I just thought that’s the way it would be every year,” Miller thought.

He’s now 32, in his 11th season with eight Pro Bowls and three first-team All-Pro selections on his resume. The trade was unexpected and momentous in his “Bronco for Life” plan.

He arrived in Los Angeles still recovering from an ankle injury and did not have a catch in his first four games with the team. However, he has had eight in the nine games since, including two in playoffs.

“We talk about competitive greatness all the time, being your best when your best is required,” McVay noted. “I think he’s illustrated that through these playoffs.”

Super Bowl LVI represents what Miller has been chasing almost from the moment he stopped dropping confetti after Super Bowl 50. The chance to add another peak to his career. He talked about it last summer. Ready to put nearly a calendar year of injury rehab behind him, Miller lamented the Broncos’ failures to reach the postseason and admitted they had begun to wear on him.

Since the trade, Miller has done everything he can to help the Rams get to this point, including taking on a mentoring role with All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald, whom he says he helped become more vocal.

“When I got here, you see the way Aaron Donald works, you see everything he does, he’s the first one in, last one to leave,” Miller described. “… [I told him], ‘Brother, if you start talking, these guys are going to play for you, they’re waiting to play for you, they’re waiting to stick their necks out.”‘

This week means something different for Miller than it does for his fellow Rams. That’s why Miller has taken the time to talk to each and every one of his new teammates about what winning the title might mean.

“I always used to always talk about Super Bowl 50 … and I remember telling them I don’t want Super Bowl 50 to be the highlight of my career,” Miller said with a smile. “But to be honest, it could be, it could be, you know what I mean? It could be that we win a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning, DeMarcus … I hope this Super Bowl is just as high.”

“I expect my performance to be the same, I expect these two Super Bowls to be the highlight of my career, that I can point to these two Super Bowls and talk about them with my son when he’s older….. This will be my third Super Bowl, I just want to give it my all, man, and like I said, I don’t want Super Bowl 50 to be the highlight of my career, I hope [Super Bowl] 56 is the highlight of my career, hoping that all the plays I make…are the best that Von has ever given in his career. It’s the biggest game of my life and I want to go out and play that way.”