Broncos LB Von Miller: ‘San Francisco has always been good to me’
Aug 16, 2017, 11:59 PM | Updated: Aug 17, 2017, 9:26 am
A little more than 18 months ago, Denver Broncos pass rusher Von Miller walked out of Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, as Super Bowl 50 champion and the game’s MVP.
On Wednesday, the team hit the field at the San Francisco 49ers facility for the first time since hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for joint practices ahead of Saturday’s second preseason game.
“Walking on to the field this morning, it’s a whole lot different. It’s a lot more red than what it was last time,” Miller said after practice Wednesday. “Before it was just gold and black and a whole bunch of white, all the Super Bowl stuff. It still had the same feel.
“San Francisco has always been good to me. The Bay Area has always been good to us.”
It has, especially during Miller’s now seven years as a professional.
Since being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft, Miller’s Broncos squads have lost a total of just one game not only in San Francisco (or Santa Clara) but in the entire Bay Area, including Oakland.
“Throughout my whole career, I’ve only lost one game here. Preseason, the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, I’ve only lost one game here and have a lot of great memories for me, as a team and as an organization,” Miller said. “San Francisco is good for us.”
Miller and the Broncos took another stroll down memory lane on Wednesday as well, as he and the team caught up with former Denver pass rusher and current 49er Elvis Dumervil.
Dumervil, who played with the Broncos from 2006 through 2012, took Miller under his wing during the Super Bowl 50 MVP’s first two seasons in the NFL.
“I feel like he’s one of my blood brothers. He took me in when I was young, and he basically showed me the whole script of bringing young guys in and showing them the ropes. That’s where I learned it from, Elvis,” Miller said Wednesday.
“I’ve said it before: just with Elvis, Peyton (Manning) and Tim Tebow, and all of these great leaders that I had, Elvis was really the first one that showed me how to do it. It’s great to get doom and gloom back on the same field and it’s a blessing.”
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.
