Cotton Bowl Q&A: A&M outside linebacker Von Miller

Billy Liucci: Take us through what it meant for you to win the Butkus Award?
Von Miller: “It really doesn’t feel like I’ve been to sleep yet. It still feels like a dream. It all started when the lights went off before the meeting. The lights came on and Mr. Dick Butkus was beside me and handed me the trophy. Everything just started from there. I had to carry my trophy for my interview at the basketball game. I got to see all the fans out there appreciating all the hard work we put out as a team this season. It was really amazing. It’s still overwhelming, and it still hasn’t sunk it yet that I had that type of success this year. We still have a game left and I’m still focusing on that game. Hopefully we can prepare well and pull out this win.”

BL: When did you make the transition from being a young, immature player, like most freshman and sophomore players are, to being a team leader?
Miller: “I think it was when Coach Sherman first got here. When any new coach arrives, there’s going to be changes. I’m not going to say we didn’t bump heads, because we did. But he taught me life lessons. I went through a lot of things my freshman and sophomore years. With adversity, it helped me become a better man. Instead of blaming things on everyone else, I put it on myself. I just wanted to put my faith in my own hands. He told me to be accountable and accept responsibility for what I did. That’s what I started to do and what we started to do as a team. We were 4-8 and we had to be accountable for that. It was either going to stay like that, or we were going to have to make a change. We all decided to make that change, and it’s been working out for us the last [couple of] years.”

BL: It seemed like it was more than just you and that pretty much all of the guys hopped in the boat with Coach Sherman.
Miller: “Yes sir. We were all acclimated to the way things were back then and, when Coach Sherman came in, we all had to make a decision to make that change. Coach Sherman made us better men, and the changes have been good for us.”

BL: Talk about what Cyrus Gray did during the second half of the season.
Miller: “It hasn’t really been a surprise to me. I’ve known the type of player Cyrus was since back in middle school. He had to get his rhythm and get used to everything. He’s always been the most positive player you could ever meet. You wouldn’t get a whiff of him being down about the way he was performing because he’s so positive. He never gets down or negative about anything. I’ve always known the type of player Cyrus is ... I was just waiting for his time to shine.”

BL: Did you know he was that second half, give him the ball 20 times and let him carry the load type of guy?
Miller: “I’ve seen Cyrus do it the whole game, from the first play of the game to the last. That’s the Cyrus that I’m used to. I knew that was the guy everyone else would get to see in due time.”

BL: Do you think your decision to come back for your senior year kind of bucked the system? And maybe since it worked out the way it did, could it send a message to the younger guys who are in the same position in the future?
Miller: “I never really thought about it like that. My decision was based on me, my family and what was best for me. That was probably the one time I had to be selfish and make the decision for myself. I just thought I came to A&M for a reason, and that I hadn’t reached that goal. I still don’t think I have. I knew I wasn’t finished here. It was just something that I knew we could come back and get. I didn’t know if it was a national championship, a Big 12 championship or just winning the south title. I just knew there was something more to get. Thank God that I came back and had the success that I had.”

BL: Could you imagine this year being any more gratifying than it’s been for you guys?
Miller: “It’s great. The feeling has been great for us. A couple of key plays determined what bowl game we’re playing in now. That’s the way football is sometimes. I know that we’ll take these experiences from this season and improve next year. This is just the start. Coach Sherman isn’t going anywhere and the players we have here aren’t going anywhere. This feeling that we’ve started to experience here in College Station isn’t going anywhere. We just want to keep the same form of success, and keep bringing it home.”

BL: How much does it mean to you to be such a big part of the revival of the “Wrecking Crew” defense?
Miller: “I don’t want to say that it’s back. I know we’re playing good defense right now, but we just want to continue that, and just honor the original ‘Wrecking Crew.’ We’re still not half the team they were back then. We just want to continue to achieve the goal of being perfect. You can never be perfect in football, but they were a perfect defense. We just want to continue to strive to be perfect.”

BL: How special is it to be playing in the Cotton Bowl, and how fired up do you get because it’s probably going to be a defensive slugfest with LSU?
Miller: “Our formula of success this whole season has been taking it day-to-day and play-by-play, so I’ve tried not to look that far ahead. After January 7, maybe I can relax and take it in. We still have one more game to play against an extremely talented team. This is probably the best team we’ll play all year. This will be our ultimate test. Everything we’ve done will be spoiled if we don’t take care of business. We definitely want to go in there and win this last game.”

BL: I get the feeling that this one means an awful lot to you guys.
Miller: “It’s all about the next win, the next play and the next [game]. This is the next one and we just have to attack it like all of the other games.”