Not many players would be willing to walk away from a Super Bowl-winning team like the Los Angeles Rams. Hell, not many players would walk away from that Californian weather to sign with the Buffalo Bills. But Von Miller isn’t like most players.
Miller knows what it takes to win at the highest level. Despite his age, he continues to be one of the marquee names in the National Football League, as he proved by signing such a big deal at this stage in his career.
But, per the Denver Broncos legend, it wasn’t money that drove him to the blistering cold in Buffalo. If anything, it was the winning culture the organization has built over the past couple of years.
NFL News: Miller Says He Could Only Leave Los Angeles For ‘Something Special’
“I saw what makes Aaron Donald Aaron Donald, and it was hard to walk away from that,” Miller told ESPN. “The only way you can walk away from that is to walk into something special. And what they’re doing here is extremely special. (The Bills are) gonna win a Super Bowl with or without me. They’ve built an amazing team.”
“When I left Denver and I went to LA, I said I’m not going back. I said I’m not leaving,” Miller said. “And it had to be something special. It had to be the Buffalo Bills. What they’ve created here — it had to be the Bills Mafia. This environment that they’ve created here, it drawed me away from that. It’s not gonna be the weather. The weather is gonna be the weather. But what they’re doing inside this facility, what they’re doing in this community, what they’re doing on the football field and off the football field, man, I had to be a part of that.”
He Feels Like He Left The Rams Down
Miller never thought his free agency decision would be so tough. He always thought he’d just re-sign with the Rams after listening to a couple of teams and that was it. Now, he feels like he’s in debt with the organization:
“I wasn’t expecting it to be like that,” Miller said. “I was expecting you win the Super Bowl, you got your offers out here, where do you want to go, pick, go back to the Rams. But it was tough man, it came down to the very end.”
“I feel like I let (the Rams) down,” the defensive starsaid. “I feel like I’m breaking up with my girlfriend. That’s just me and the way I go about my business. But this was the one time in my life where I had to make a decision for me.”
In reality, it’s hard to turn down $120 million when you’re an aging player, especially if that money comes from a legit Super Bowl contender. Also, it’s not like he owes anybody an explanation after half a season in Los Angeles.
