Wearing glasses has been a constant for Von Miller since he was a kid. At this point, it's hard to imagine Von without them.

But he almost made a decision to get rid of them.

"Actually, what we were going to do was get his eyes fixed coming out of college," Gloria said. "And he's like, 'No, no. I'm not going to get it, because I want kids to know it's cool to wear glasses, that they'll be OK to wear glasses.'

"And so he never got 'em fixed."

It's a good thing he didn't. By thinking that way, Miller retained a reminder of something that is inherently him, and that in turn informed his decision for what his foundation would be.

"It took me a year to really figure out what I wanted to do, what did I want to have [be] my fingerprint," Von said. "I was sitting down one day and was playing with my glasses and I was like, 'Glasses, contacts — that's what I'm going to do for underprivileged kids.' My whole entire life, I've battled with vision problems, not having a decent pair of glasses or contacts. I figured that that was my way to give back. That's something that could have my fingerprint on."

Through that path, Von has made an impact that connects him to every individual Von's Vision touches.

Most times, those are kids who didn't have the resources to get vision checks and eyewear, if they need it.

Once, however, Von's Vision had a bigger impact on a kid's life than they expected.

"Through one of the exams on Von's Vision Day, we found out that one of the kids had cancer in his eye," Von said. "And he would have never known unless he had that eye exam. We took care of all his treatments and everything that came after that. But to know that one of Von's Vision Days potentially saved one of these children's eyesight or vision — or life, for that matter — is pretty cool. It's pretty amazing."

These are the things that build a legacy beyond football.

That's something Peyton Manning came to understand during his career — that's what made him a Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year winner — and that's the kind of person Miller wants to be.

"I learned with Peyton Manning — for one, he's the most consistent guy that I know — and I learned that no matter what the situation is, it's never too big and never too small," Von said. "And in every situation, he's going be Peyton Manning. He's going to be the Peyton Manning that he's on the football field, off the football field — whether that's giving back or being a teammate. He's always going to be Peyton Manning. He's going to be the GOAT in life."

Von wants that kind of balance, too. He wants to have the same kind of impact on the community that he has on the field. But he knows he won't always have the spotlight he has now. He'll have to maximize his time in the NFL to maximize his efforts elsewhere, and he's devoted to that.