Von Miller admits he learned an important lesson during offseason away from Broncos

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

That is not a quote from Von Miller, nor is it an original from that girl you know’s Instagram, but Miller—maybe like that girl you know—lived the words of Gandhi last summer. It just took a while for him to get to the second part of that phrase.

Last offseason, Miller unquestionably lived as if he was dying, the Super Bowl 50 MVP was everywhere—from Dancing with the Stars to the Grammys, and everything in between. But it wasn’t until this offseason that the Broncos’ start began that learning phase.

On Tuesday, Miller met with the media as part of the team’s first phase of offseason conditioning—something he was not present for last year—and was extremely open about the lessons he learned from his world tour.

“Last [offseason], I didn’t have a lot of time to do anything,” said a guy who pretty much did everything. “I did a lot of stuff, but not like the offseason I’m having this year. Last year I had all these obligations, and I had to do this, Dancing with the Stars, go here and go there.”

This year, the face of the organization is attacking the offseason with a different mentality: rest, relaxation, training and of course a little run on tour with Drake, “he’s definitely the GOAT,” Von says.

The result is a player who missed Defensive Player of the Year by one vote feeling worlds better now than he did at this point one year ago.

“I don’t even know where I was,” he said, hands on top of his head, taking a quick moment to reflect on how crazy that time was. “I was at Dancing with the Stars at this time. I was probably 230 pounds. I’m definitely feeling a whole lot better. I’m getting rest and being able to sleep. I’m definitely feeling a whole lot better. I’m definitely in a better place physically then where I was at last year.”

That’s a scary thought in more than one way. First, in the fact that one year ago Von Miller was 20 pounds under his listed weight on the Broncos website. Second, in the fact that one year ago Von Miller was 20 pounds under his listed weight, wasn’t getting any rest, didn’t participate in team activities until training camp and still dominated.

Von liveth and Von learneth.

“[OTAs] are extremely important,” he admitted one year after skipping out. “I felt like last year, missing them, I was like, ‘You don’t need OTAs.’ You can train on your own, but the National Football League is so competitive. The more time that you can get to perfect your craft with your teammates, you need that to get over the hump, you need to be out here with your guys, and you need to gel with your guys. You need to be working out here in the altitude and here at the facility. I need this time here in OTAs to be a better player. Last year I didn’t do that, and I came off fine. As a player in the National Football League going against elite guys all across the league, you definitely need OTAs to play at your highest potential.”

So what does this all add up to? The math seems simple.

“This Von coming up is going to be my best Von that I put forward,” the superstar said in his favorite third person perspective. “It’s going to be my best year. That’s what I’m going for. I have a full offseason and full OTAs. I’m going to be here every single day training. There is no noise on the outside from the contract or this and that or doing all of this stuff. Not like that was a big deal for me, but now it is all football. I’m here. I’m settled in, and it’s time to go play.”

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
– Vondhi