On paper, family is defined as, “a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household,” to Von Miller it’s much, much more than that.
“They say everything happens for a reason,” said the face of the Denver Broncos, staring off into the distance next to his suped-up truck. “Forget player; I don’t know what type of person I would be without my brothers and the support system I have around me.”
You see, Von Miller only has one biological brother, but he still uses the plural form of the term. If you’re a part of his circle, you’re a part of his family. The two go hand and hand, each a requirement for the other.
That family-based nature resonated inside of Miller long before he became the face of Denver sports. Back in high school, when he found out his good friend and teammate Tony Jerod-Eddie, was going to have to transfer schools, he did the obvious thing to him and invited Jerod-Eddie to come live with his family. Von’s parents, being the cloth that he was cut from, of course, obliged. They had another son; Von had another brother.
Back then, they said it was like having a sleepover every day; today, not a thing has changed.
“Every day is still a sleepover,” said Von’s one true biological brother, Vins. “That’s how we see it… All our friends, brothers stay at his house every time they’re in Denver. Forget a hotel room; we’re all at his house. If one goes, we all go.”
Credit: Jackson Belcher
These days, Miller’s main crew consists of Vins, Jerod-Eddie and another longtime friend and teammate, Cyrus Gray. Those four have been staples for years now, but that family grows often. From his Broncos teammates, to guys like Odell Beckham Jr., all the way down to his videographer, Jackson Belcher.
“Jackson, that’s my guy as well, he’s been with me since 91,” Miller said, not talking about the year. “91,000 followers on Instagram… Very humble beginnings, he’s been with me all the way since then.”
Miller has added over a million followers since then, but more importantly, he’s added another brother.
“I could hang out with Jackson all day,” he said.
According to Gray, this all boils doing to the old apple and tree idea.
“Everyone,” he said. “He treats everyone like family, and it’s not even really just about Von, it starts with his parents. Gloria and also ‘Big Von,’ those two are like the mom and dad of DeSoto, Texas. Everyone knows them, they have everyone’s number, they know everything that’s going on, and that’s just trickled down to Von. He always treats us like family, treats me like family. I don’t see him as anything but family, that’s the only thing I see him as.”
“He enjoys making other people happy,” Vins chipped in. “Most of the time he puts other people before himself.
To everyone else, it appears as if Von loves to do things for others, to Von he’s just repaying those who made him who he is.
“My mom being at every single game, my dad being the type of father that he is, having a biological brother and then having all of these guys that are the same as biological brothers for me as well,” he explained. “Playing football with guys since I was in little league, I really don’t know what type of person I would be without that type of support. It means a whole lot to me, every single day I talk to those guys, I live with those guys, go everywhere with those guys.”
“I have all these guys,” he concluded. “All this great energy around me that helps me become the person I am.”
They say the best part of life is when your family becomes your friends and your friends become your family. Set aside the millions of dollars, the cars, the extravagant vacations, the super bowl ring and the matching MVP trophy and Von Miller is still in the best part of his life. In fact, without his family to share it with, all of that would mean nothing.
Credit: Jackson Belcher
