DENVER BRONCOS QUOTES (5/24/17)
OUTSIDE LINEBACKER VON MILLER
On whether he considered the 2016 season his best season
“I don’t know. I had a lot of great things [happen]. My second year was good. I think my fifth year was good and my sixth year was good. I think they’re all good. Me personally, I always felt like my best season is my season coming up next. It’s just how I always played. I played in my rookie season and I came in, and alright, my next season is going to be my best one—2013. It didn’t work like that for me, but I came back and said, ‘2014 is going to be my best one.’ It happened to be my second-best season. 2015 was a great season for me as well. We won the Super Bowl—Super Bowl MVP. Next year after that I was like, ‘This is going to be my best year.’ 2016, I came in and finished second in [Associated Press Defensive] Player of the Year voting. I like to say that this season is going to be my best season yet. I’ve just been coming in and attacking it like that. All my teammates, most of my guys in the locker room, I’ve been playing with those guys for a long time—[CB] Chris [Harris Jr.], D.T. (WR Demaryius Thomas), [DE] Derek Wolfe. I feel like this season will be my best season yet.”
On his on-field goals for 2017
“Goals and roles change every single year. I just want to be in great shape. I want to push my body to a spot that it has never been before. You’re never guaranteed that working hard off the field will translate to on-the-field success, but that is what I am hoping for this year. I’ve never worked as hard as I am working this offseason. Things don’t always happen like you want them to, but I’m hoping that work off the field translates over to the field. I’m just going to take it one play at a time and one game at a time. I’m going to continue to work on leadership and continue to lead my guys in the locker room. Good things always happen, especially here. I’m just taking in one day at a time. Whatever happens, I’m going to be OK with.”
On what Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods brings to the defense
“We’ve always had great defensive coordinators. From DA (Saints Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen) to [Raiders Head Coach] Jack [Del Rio] and [Rams Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Wade] Phillips, all of the defensive coordinators that we’ve had, we’ve always been good and we’ve always been able to rush the passer. Joe Woods has been with us for three years now. He knows us. He has a great mind. He knows how to relate to guys, especially the secondary. That’s the strength of our defense. He brings a calm voice. [Outside Linebackers] Coach ‘Pug’ [Fred Pagac], that’s my coach. Me and Coach Pug have had special relationship from Day 1. It’s just a special environment here, especially on defense. We’ll come out here and work hard. Whatever happens, we’ll be okay with.”
On the mindset of being hungry verses being greedy on defense
“With defense, you just have to have that mindset. I like to think of it more as being greedy. Moral of defense is being greedy. Sometimes when you’re hungry and you make a play, you ease up. But if you have that greedy mindset—I want one sack, two sacks, three sacks, four sacks—I don’t even want him to pass the ball. I think it works a lot better especially with my position and with what I do. Hungry, you can kind of fade a little bit, but being greedy, it’s always there. It’s the mindset and it’s a trait. On defense, I think me and [OLB] Shane [Ray] have that.”
On Head Coach Vance Joseph’s coaching compared to former Head Coach Gary Kubiak
“It’s not changing that much. We have great leadership here. Duke (Executive Vice President of Football Operations/GM John Elway), he’s not going anywhere. As long as he’s here, it’s going to be the same. We’ll still have a championship chance every year. He’s going to put guys in here that are going to help us win. Not only the coaching staff, but from the scouts, all the way down to the chefs that we have. We have championship quality guys all over this facility. Mr. Elway has done a great job since he’s been here to help develop this organization to where it is now. It’s always going to be like that as long as we have that leadership in place.”
On speaking at the employee appreciation lunch
“I always wanted to take advantage of my opportunity and give back to the people that really make this place go. Players, they come and go. Some of the employees have been here for 40 years, if you look at [Director of Sports Medicine Steve Antonopoulos] Greek. I come in and I have a special relationship with these guys. Not only the training staff, but the field guys. You can’t always learn everybody’s name, but I always try to have that special relationship with those guys. We found out that they were having the employee appreciation. I thought, ‘I’m right here on the field, I can go over there and do some stuff for those guys.’ [Executive Vice President of Public and Community Relations] Patrick [Smyth] and [Director of Media Relations] Erich [Schubert], they’ve always been great for me as well. Whatever I can do to give my appreciation, I’m going to do it. It’s not the first thing that we’ve done. There have been things that we’ve done. It’s not a list. We’re not taking notes or anything that we’ve done for guys. It’s a special place here [at the UCHealth Training Center] like I said before. Win or loss ,we just want to take care of all the guys that are taking care of me.”
On the rule changes for celebrations after touchdowns
“I was waiting for that. I was waiting for that question (laughing). I think that is a wonderful thing. It’s so hard to score a touchdown and it’s so hard to get a sack. The fans, they want excitement. I think a rule change would be great. We have to get a choreographer in here now to for us to really take advantage of the opportunity we have. We have this opportunity; we should really—the entire National Football League will not be able to take advantage of it. But the five percent that do take advantage of it, it could be big. It could be big for our sport. I’m pleased. I’m happy with it. Just think about it. You get a touchdown and you got five offensive linemen and they have a little Temptations routine. It’ll be great. We have to get a choreographer once a week to help all of the guys out because everybody can’t move like me (laughing). I think it would be great. I think it’s a wonderful thing, not only for the Denver Broncos, but for the entire National Football League.”
On who has the best and worst celebration dance
“I mean it just depends. The best and the worst just depends on who’s looking at it. Offensive lineman probably can’t move as much, but when they celebrate, it’s nothing better than that. It’s like a big dancing bear. It’s nothing better than that. You have the little guys that dance and whip around and stuff. But, it may not be as exciting as the big guys dancing around after a big play. It just depends on who’s watching it. In the National Football League, we have a lot of fans that will be able to find their favorite dance routine. It’ll be great. I’m happy with the rule change.”
On asking Elway about bringing in a choreographer for celebrations
“I don’t think we have to take it that extreme (laughing). He’s got so many other things to focus on. I can handle the choreography of touchdowns and celebrations. It will be good. I’m pretty excited about it.”
On NFL RB Rashad Jennings winning Dancing with the Stars
“I think it’s great. I’ve been so caught up in what we’ve been doing here, but it’s great. Right when they started the season, you can kind of look and tell who is going to have a chance to win. Football players, they usually do a great job on Dancing with the Stars, besides last season with me and [Steelers WR] Antonio Brown]. Usually they do a great job. I always thought it was going to be between Rashad Jennings and [USA Gymnast] Simone [Biles] and all of those guys. I thought Simone had it—that’s what she does on a daily basis. It just shows you that when you stick your mind into something and you in there and work. I’m sure he doesn’t have any dancing background, but if you go in there and work, you can come out on top.”
On how different this offseason is compared to last year
“It’s still moving the same. With me, I never really like to look ahead. I like to take it one day at a time and take advantage of the time that I have. The 24 hours that I have, I like to take advantage of that. When I go off campus or away from work, I like to take advantage of that time. I don’t really look to far ahead. When you suddenly raise [your head] up, we’re 50 percent through the offseason. I think 50 percent was yesterday. Time is moving pretty fast, but we’re trying to take advantage of the time that we have. We’re moving along great. We’ve got the rookies in here already. We’re already practicing with the rookies. Time is moving how it should be. I don’t want to speed it up or slow it down. We’ll take it how it comes.”
On why he got new Super Bowl 50 tattoos now
“I just realized that I had time to do it. I went through a lot of designs, but I never really got to sit down with my guy in New York and plan it until I got out there. I got there and we sat down and were able to do it. I have a lot of tattoos. The Super Bowl MVP tattoo, you have to have that one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a year late or two years late. I have a lot of tattoos and that’s just one that I wanted to get.”
On whether he felt the defensive rhythm was slower last season
“I don’t know. The thing about football teams is that you have a lot of different personalities and a lot of different opinions. I could definitely see where [S] T.J. [Ward] was coming from, but we played hard last year. I thought we were relentless, especially with the cards that we were dealt with guys being hurt and the struggles that we had on both sides of the ball and special teams. I felt like we played hard. We play hard every time we go out there. We play hard and we play like pros. We play like how we’re supposed to play. You don’t always win, but nobody is slopping it out. We go out there and we try to win. In the National Football League, that’s really the only thing that matters, especially when I’m going out there with my guys. We’re trying to win. It doesn’t always happen like that, but that is the main goal. I certainly think we have a lot more this year than we did last year.”
On what he has done differently this offseason
“I’ve always focused on my body and focused on my nutrition. I’m just taking advantage of the time that I have now instead of going home after the workouts here and watching TV. I might go home and do some crunches or some cardio work. I think cardio and endurance is really the thing that I need to focus on. If I can stay on the field, I can play eight snaps instead of five snaps. It allows me more time to make plays and it allows me more opportunities and exposure to make plays. That’s been my whole goal this year. Just trying to stay on the field and have more exposure to football plays because you can’t make plays unless you are on the football field. I don’t want to be on the football field just going through the motions. I just want to be on the field like I know how to be. That’s all I’ve been working on, endurance and cardio.”
©2017 Denver Broncos Football Club. All rights reserved. The individual quotes cited in this document may be used for the purpose of news reporting and other fair uses as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act. Duplication or posting of this quote sheet, in its entirety, or any other use of this material which is not a fair use as defined by Section 107 of the Copyright Act is strictly prohibited without the prior written consent of the Denver Broncos Football Club.