Nothing is like it was. More than three years after Von Miller won a Super Bowl, earned the game’s MVP honors, fell one vote shy of the league’s defensive player of the year award, embarked on a national media tour and became what was then the highest-paid defender in football, his circumstances have changed. Quite drastically.



The Broncos’ drop from Super Bowl 50 has been steep, and there is no clear end in sight as they trudge through another season with more losses than answers. Miller, once the happy-go-lucky franchise player whose job description was to “sack the quarterback and tell jokes,” is clearly frustrated. His press conferences, when they last for more than 12 seconds, are often subdued, his answers terse. He has run out of ways to say it sucks to lose.



Miller has always heard the noise around him, and he’s taken it to heart. For the longest time, the talk about Miller was positive. He’s engaged with fans on...