Linebacker Von Miller is back in the Super Bowl, six years after winning MVP honors in the Broncos’ last appearance in the big game. And the twist of football fate that led him to Sunday’s moment at SoFi Stadium — a midseason trade — isn’t lost on him.
“It’s really amazing when I think about it,” Miller said Monday during Super Bowl media interviews. “When you win something like that, it creates this addiction, and you want (that success) all the time. The last five years (the Broncos) haven’t even been close (to the playoffs), so to come here to the Los Angeles Rams has been a true blessing.”
Miller described his 10 years with the Broncos and his half-season with the Rams as “kind of like having two kids who are totally different, but you love them both.”
“(The franchises) are two totally different energies,” he added. “It’s still the Super Bowl, but it feels different because I’m (the older veteran now). Everything that DeMarcus (Ware) and Peyton (Manning) told us to get us going in 2015, that’s the same thing I’m doing with these guys. I’m paying it forward — all the (keys to victory) that we talked about, all the things that we did. I’m trying to put that energy on my new teammates.”
“The energy that I had in 2015, I carry that same energy… making sure everybody (on the Rams) is ready to embrace this moment.”
The Broncos traded Miller to Los Angeles Nov. 1 in exchange for second- and third-round picks in this year’s draft. Miller had 4 1/2 sacks and seven tackles for loss in seven games for the Broncos. He was dealing with an ankle sprain at the time of the trade and had to wait to make his Los Angeles debut until a couple of weeks after it was finalized.
General manager George Paton and the Broncos picked up $9 million of the remaining $10.5 million of Miller’s 2021 salary in the deal. While the Broncos unloaded Miller, who was in the final year of his contract, and essentially paid for a couple extra draft picks, Miller provided a spark for a deep Rams defense that features the likes of All-Pro tackle Aaron Donald and All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey, with five sacks in eight games.
“George could’ve sent me anywhere, to any team in the NFL, and I’m sure he could’ve got more (return) from other teams,” Miller said. “But they paid the majority of my salary so I could come to the L.A. Rams, and they sent me to a contender for a Super Bowl. Now I would tell (Paton), ‘Thank you,’ because I always felt it was more than just a football relationship with him.”
