Von Miller may be with the Dallas Cowboys for just one season.
At 37 years old and in his 16th season, that’s all that can be expected at this point.
And he is already making the most of his dream come true experience to play for his hometown team, soaking in every moment of it.
It’s a reason he campaigned hard the No. 40 jersey that he negotiated away from fullback Hunter Luepke for a percentage of his chicken company.
“We won’t get into details about it, but I’m happy to say he’s my business partner,” Miller said. “He’s a part owner of Greener Pastures Chicken, the chicken of champions.”
“You’ve got to give a shoutout to Hunter, man,” Miller added. “He’s learned from the best here with the negotiations with the Cowboys. It went down to the final hour but we were able to get it done.”
Leupke will wear No. 30. Miller will wear 40.
It’s a number he wore in high school at DeSoto and in college at Texas A&M.
No. 40 is home for him and he is at home and comfortable playing for his hometown Cowboys.
It’s a dream come true of him and one he wishes every kid who grew up playing football in Dallas could experience.
“The smile has come back,” Miller said. “I have always loved playing football. There is something different about being here. It still times where I am in awe and star struck. Every day it wears off and I settle in being a Dallas Cowboy…A lot of kid would love that. I am living the dream. I appreciate my opportunity here.”
Miller doesn’t know how he will be used this season starting in the season opener against the New York Giants on Sept. 13.
But he is will to do whatever it takes to help the Cowboys win, on and off the field.
“No, I don’t have any plan, but this is my 16th year in the National Football League,” Miller said. I like to think that I’m a coach’s dream. I just try to make everybody’s job easy, whether it’s coaches, players around me, whatever I can do …I’m still a sack daddy too.”
Miller has 138.5 career sacks, more than any active player. That total ties him with DeMarcus Ware for ninth all-time in NFL history.Four more would move him past Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor, and Terrell Suggs into sixth.
He is certainly already destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He has two Super Bowl titles on his resume along with a Super Bowl MVP. He also has eight Pro Bowls and seven All-Pro honors (3 first-team and 4 second-team selections).
But Miller is not here to just enjoy life with the Cowboys, he would like to win another title at home. The team has opening talked about ending their now 31-year drought since their last Super Bowl title following the 1995 season.
He said the Cowboys have what it takes but he is going to help as much as he can in terms of leadership and advice to the young players as well as the veterans.
“I’m probably the most optimistic player that we got on this team, so yes, I think we have what it takes,” Miller said. “There are a lot of teams in the NFL that have what it takes. There are a lot of teams with great quarterbacks, great defenses.
“One of the things that I’ve been focused on is really just the mindset. I feel like the mindset is the difference between a great team and a Super Bowl team. When the bullets are flying and it’s fourth-and-1 for the game, where’s our mindset at? And we’ve been talking about those situations, whether it’s offense, defense. And that’s one of the joys I’ve had as well. You know, not every team that I’ve been on has had that aspiration to be a Super Bowl champ.”
