Getty Von Miller
Vonnie B’VSean “Von” Miller was born on March 26, 1989, in DeSoto, Texas, to Gloria Miller and Von Miller Sr. The Buffalo Bills star grew up in the Texas city, a suburb of Dallas, with his brother Vinsynzie “Vins” Miller in a close-knit family along with several good friends who were always welcome in his home.
Here’s what you need to know about Von Miller’s family:
1. Von Miller Begged His Parents to Let Him Play Football When He Was Younger & His Mother Gloria Miller Finally Relented
Miller grew up in a close-knit household but he shared that his parents didn’t want him to play football at first even though he loved the sport from a young age. In a piece for the Players’ Tribune, Miller revealed that his mother was instrumental in getting him involved in football through a “spy operation” they ran together.
“When I was in fifth grade, I wanted to play peewee football so bad,” he wrote. “So I went up to my dad after school and told him he had to go sign me up. He just laughed. ‘Boy, you not ready. You’re way too skinny to be playing football.'” Miller wrote that he continued to beg his father, trying to convince him that he was ready to play. He said he’d spend his recesses at school throwing the ball around.
Miller wrote that he continued trying to convince his father, before attempting to get his mother on board. “I started wearing her down,” he wrote. “You know how it’s done: ‘Mom. Mom. Mom, come on. I’ll make my bed every day. I’ll mow the lawn. Mom, just let me play football. I’m ready!’… Thank God for my mom. She finally broke down one day.”
His mother agreed to let him play but told him it had to remain a secret between the two of them. “My mom and dad have been together for 27 years,” he added. “They tell each other everything. So this had to be a CIA operation.” Miller described getting changed in the back of her car after practices and hiding his pads in the back seat under a blanket.
Miller said his team was undefeated and he really wanted to share the news with his father after every game but didn’t. It wasn’t until he made it to the championship that he told Miller Sr. “‘Hey dad, remember when you said I wasn’t ready? Well, guess what?'” he wrote. “You should have seen his face.”
2. Von Miller’s Mother Gloria Miller Has Been Very Supportive of His Career & Was Always at His Games
Miller’s mother was very supportive of his dreams ever since she allowed him to play and she “never missed one game,” the Bills star wrote for the Players’ Tribune. Gloria Miller was in the audience when her son was on “Dancing With the Stars” as well, joking, “You know, he thinks he’s a dancer. He does have rhythm, I have to give it to him,” she told the Denver Post.
It’s perhaps no surprise that Gloria Miller was so supportive of her son as she revealed that her own mother once told her, “When you have kids, that’s 18-plus years of your life on hold because you have to cater more or less to that child,” she shared. “Their life just became my life and that’s how we do it today.”
When Miller was just starting out, his mother always made sure to park right next to the field because she had her son’s nebulizer in the truck and he needed it for his asthma.
“It had a D/C adapter so I could run it off the battery of my truck,” she told the Denver Post. “It had a long extension cord and we just ran it out of the back of the truck.” When Miller felt symptoms of his asthma flare up during a game, he’d run to the sidelines to get treatment before returning to the field.
3. Von Miller’s Father, Von Miller Sr., Often Gives His Son Advice
Despite his concerns about his son getting into football at a young age, Von Miller Sr. is also very supportive of his son’s career and has given him some advice on several occasions. When Miller was traded to the Los Angeles Rams from the Denver Broncos, his father was often in contact with him.
“He was kind of distraught from being separated from the Broncos and traded to the Rams,” Miller Sr told the Athletic. “He was happy to go to the Rams, but at the same time, emotions were tough for that period that he was in L.A. It was a transition.”
Miller also shared that he was speaking with his father when he was with the Rams and his dad asked him if he was happy there. “I told him I still feel like I got a lot of football left,” Miller told the Washington Post.
Miller Sr. said it’s been “exciting” to see his son go from a boy to a man during his time with the Broncos. “It was so exciting to see my son evolve to that person he is today,” he said. He knows his son very well, including his strengths and weaknesses, and admitted that Miller’s heart can be both. “I tell him all the time that his biggest asset and his worst enemy is his heart,” he told the Buffalo News.
4. Von Miller Was Very Close With His Brother & His Parents Often Helped Out Others in the Community
Miller grew up with his younger brother, Vinsynzie “Vins” Miller, in suburban DeSoto and his parents, who own a power supply business, still live there. In fact, the Bills star now owns a farm next to his parents’ home, the Athletic reported.
Miller’s father, described by ESPN as “soft-spoken and reserved” often ended up being a father figure to some of Miller’s boyhood friends. “Sometimes you need someone to tell you it’s OK to make mistakes,” he told the publication.
In fact, he said their family extended beyond the four Millers who lived together. “Sometimes, you’ve got to reach out,” Miller Sr. explained to Buffalo News. “It’s always been to reach back and try to help somebody. If you’ve got a plus, you reach back and try to help somebody and share that plus with somebody else.”
When the Bills linebacker was growing up, he often spent time outdoors, fishing and hunting with his parents and with the Boy Scouts. “I honestly learned how to shoot before I learned how to read and write,” he admitted to ESPN. He described himself as a little spoiled, telling the publication that his parents were really involved in his life and education, to the extent that his mother made his science fair projects.
Miller was also really close with his brother Vins and slept in the same room as him until the eighth grade despite having his own bedroom in the house. “They normally slept (in the same room),” Miller Sr. told the Buffalo News. “They’d kind of go back and forth, but they spent more time in the [Vins’] bunk-bed room, because they just had a little bit more space in there.”
5. Von Miller Is a Father to 2 Boys, Valor & Victory
Miller has two sons, Valor and Victory, whom he shares with his ex Megan Denise. His son Valor was born on August 16, 2021, and his second son Victory was born on February 7, 2023. In 2022, the Athletic reported that Denise and Valor were moving to the Dallas area, where the rest of Miller’s family lives.
“For me, man, there’s nothing like it,” Miller shared about fatherhood. “When he falls asleep, you just stare at him, look at him breathing.” On Valor’s first birthday, he wrote on Instagram, “Happy 1st Birthday Valor! I love you more than anything else in this world! Right or Wrong, daddy’s ALWAYS got your back! ❤️”