In a league where the average career of a player is less than 5 years, Buffalo Bills linebacker Von Miller has been standing strong since 2011. When Amon-Ra St. Brown asked him if he felt old, he revealed his secret.
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In his 14th season, Miller is on a 6-year, $120 million deal with the Bills and is widely recognized as one of the best defensive players in the league. Previously, he won the Super Bowl twice with the Broncos and the LA Rams.
Miller joined Amon-Ra on his podcast and while discussing his career Amon-Ra questioned him if he felt old. Miller accepted that he was at least 12-13 years older than other players but it didn’t matter on the play field. He said:
“Oh Man you know when a player walks up to you and says: ‘What’s up unc’, I be like Unc, right. But if you think about it, when I think about it, I’m 12 years-13 years older than these guys. So definitely I feel like it inside the locker room but when we get on the football field it doesn’t feel like that for me.”
According to him, he started playing football in fifth grade and the game hasn’t changed since so it made no difference on the field. He added that being around younger guys has kept him young as he had a fairly different lifestyle with kids compared to the young guys.
Miller played for the Broncos from 2011 till the first half of 2021, winning the Super Bowl 50 together. He was traded to the Rams midseason and helped them in their Super Bowl-winning campaign with 14 tackles in the postseason.
At the age of 33, he signed a six-year deal with the Bills and if he manages to play till the end, he would become one of the oldest defensive players of all time.
Miller reveals his future plans in the NFL
When Amon-Ra asked him about his retirement plans, Miller playfully said that the key was to neither leave too early nor wait for the team to fire you.
He added that his journey to the league was a blessing as there were many moments in his career when he prayed for a good performance that pushed him to the next level and finally into the NFL.
So, he would only hang his boots after he gets a sign from above.
Miller defied the odds with his longevity and even returned unharmed from a season-ending ankle injury in 2020. In a league where one major injury was enough to push a defense player out of the team, he bounced back and won another Super Bowl.
He’s still performing at the top of his game for the Bills and if he doesn’t pick any injuries, he would surely play till the end of his contract.
