Getty WRs Anthony Miller and Riley Ridley of the Chicago Bears. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Michael Jordan’s influence knows no bounds, it seems. Just about everyone is watching The Last Dance, and Anthony Miller is no exception. The Chicago Bears wide receiver, like a great many of us, has found himself riveted by the ESPN docuseries about a team he was too young to watch: the Chicago Bulls of the late 1990s.
Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Miller didn’t grow up a Bulls fan, but he has always considered himself to be a Michael Jordan fan, and he told Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune he’s getting a lot of ideas from the documentary from Jordan specifically.
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Anthony Miller on MJ : ‘He’s a Guy You Can Emulate’
Miller will begin his third season in the league this year, and after a slow start to his sophomore campaign, he finished strong in 2019. He had 33 catches for 431 yards and two touchdowns in five games toward the end of the season before he went down with a shoulder injury. He told Kane he has been spending his down time trying to learn what he can from other great athletes, and Jordan tops that list.
“Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time in my eyes,” Miller said to Kane. “Just seeing what he went through to achieve his goals and to get everybody on his level, it was amazing. He’s a guy you can emulate your game off of, your mentality off of.”
Having some inspiration seems key for Miller, especially right now. He is recovering from his second consecutive offseason shoulder surgery on his left shoulder after suffering what he refers to as a “freak accident” in the last game of the season.
While filling in for Cordarrelle Patterson, who left the team’s Week 17 game against the Vikings with a concussion, Miller returned a kickoff he now regrets. “That was just a freak accident,” Miller told Kane. “I was really wishing I didn’t bring that ball out that day. But it’s what happened, and I’m living with it.”
Miller says he hasn’t caught any passes since his surgery, but he noted he’s focused on his recovery, and when he’s not focused on the upcoming season, he said he’s trying to learn what he can by watching film of other great wideouts.
Anthony Miller is Also Putting in Work Studying This Offseason
GettyChicago Bears WR Anthony Miller is recovering from his second shoulder surgery. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Miller also told Kane he has been looking long and hard at film of receivers Steve Smith, Isaac Bruce and Stefon Diggs with the hopes of learning tricks of the trade to improve his game.
Miller also noted he’s very much looking forward to learning from New Bears wide receiver, veteran Ted Ginn Jr. “That’s a guy who has been in the league like 14 years, and he’s just a great guy to sponge off of as far as knowing things,” Miller said. “I’m glad I’ve got an opportunity to play with him.”
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