New Dallas Cowboys edge rusher Von Miller says he can get out of bed and gets eight sacks, even at 37 years old
He can get sacks on the field or off the field as good teammate by helping others get to the quarterback.
That’s what comes a 15-year veteran is NFL’s 9th all-time leader in sacks with 138.5 and destined for the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a Super Bowl 50 MVP, eight Pro Bowls, seven All-Pro teams and an All-Decade on his resume.
Yes, he signed with the Cowboys to help their ailing pass rush.
But Miller is here to be a good teammate first and foremost, live out his dream of playing for his hometown team as a native of DeSoto and help the Cowboys end their 31-year drought since their last title following the 1995 season.
“The number one thing for me is to be the best teammate that I could possibly be to help everybody improve whether it’s offense, defense, special teams and to win a championship,” Miller said in his first interview with the media on Tuesday since agreeing to terms on a one-year deal Sunday night. “That’s my number one goal. When it comes to playing football and getting sacks, like I said, I could still roll out of bed to do that. It’s some things that pass rushers do that take a lot of athletic ability and it’s some things that’s all mental and intelligence too. Just knowing where I fit on the pass rush, who I’m working with, time of the game, quarter, what offensive coordinator I’m going against, tendencies from offensive linemen.
Those are things that don’t take any athletic ability. So I can walk into eight of those. When it comes to my athletic ability and my pass rush, that’s what I’ve been doing my whole career. Am I going to go out here and just beat somebody to death for 60 plays a game? Probably not, but it’s still in there. But it’s still in there and I can still win a lot of these reps, especially when it’s crunch time.”
This move for Miller is about living out a lifelong dream that he is manifested in his mind for years, starting with is first vision of football at home with his dad cheering for the Cowboys while watching television. It was at that moment that he wanted to make his dad happy as a football player.
“One of my core memories was sitting in the living room and I heard my dad scream in the bedroom and I run back there,” Miller said. “I had to be like four or five and I run back there and my dad is screaming with joy watching TV. And I just remember the star, right? And one of my core memories was like, man, I want to make my dad scream like that one day. And that’s where I fell in love with football. So the Cowboys have been interwoven with my career playing football and never thought that I had an opportunity. I lobbied a long time, but for that really to come true, it’s a dream within a dream for sure.”
Not only has he made his dad happy. But he has brought his entire family together, even his mother. She has not always been inclined to root for the Cowboys.
“Oh, it’s great. My mom is not a fan,” Miller said. “So you got people, you either love the Cowboys or you hate the Cowboys. And this will be the first year where everybody’s unified on one team. So it’s pretty cool to have everybody in blue. And my kids, my oldest son, Valor, he’s five years old. He’s just now coming into consciousness of what dad does and to play for the Dallas Cowboys. It’s no other team that he could learn football from. So whether it’s bringing him up here, bringing the kids up here, getting them to know all the players or being around a facility, it’s super cool for me and my family.”
And it will be even greater if he finishes the goal and wins a Super Bowl in Dallas.
Miller has won titles with the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Rams. He has been with the Buffalo Bills and knows their rabid fanbase as well.
But there would be nothing like winning in Dallas, at home.
“Well, it’s great. I think that question answers itself. It’s the Dallas Cowboys,” Miller said. “I won the Super Bowl in Denver. We had a million people out there. We won a Super Bowl with the Rams. It wasn’t as much. The parade, we were stopping at red lights and stuff. We still won the Super Bowl and it’s still exciting and still dope, but it’s just a different feel with those two organizations. If I was with the Buffalo Bills and if we ended up winning Super Bowl, it would be a holiday in Orchard Park. It’d be a holiday in Buffalo. It’d be statues for everybody. That’s just the type of organization that they have, the type of fans that they have. Dallas Cowboys fans are in that same type.
Fans here are die hard fans. And if we’re able to do that, if we’re able to have a successful season and win the Super Bowl, it’d be a holiday in Dallas as well. People love the Dallas Cowboys. They either love them or hate them, but at the end of the day, they all root for the Dallas Cowboys. And for us to be able to win a Super Bowl, it’d be crazy in Dallas. It’d be a holiday as well.”
