NFL
Denver Broncos Star Von Miller Is on the Road Back After a Health Scare
John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR. Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls. John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.
Get to know John Moriello betterPublished01 May 2020
Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller has been cleared following his battle with the coronavirus, less than three weeks after being diagnosed, the Super Bowl 50 MVP announced Thursday.
Miller is one of just two NFL players known to have contracted the virus, which has killed more than 63,000 Americans through the end of April.
Von Miller came down with a persistent cough
Denver Broncos star Von Miller said he was diagnosed with the coronavirus the week of April 12 despite rarely leaving his house while Americans went into quarantine to ride out the pandemic.
“I was shocked,” Miller said in an April 17 TV interview. “I’ve been here in Denver for about four weeks now. I’ve probably left the house four times. With all those four times, I never got out of the car.”
Miller, who has asthma, said his symptoms began with a cough, but he had said in his interview with the Today show that his symptoms were relatively mild. He was cared for by Broncos doctors and stayed in isolation.
Von Miller has been one of the NFL’s dominant defenders
Linebacker Von Miller, 31, is going into his 10th NFL season with the Denver Broncos, who drafted him second overall out of Texas A&M in 2011. He has been first-team All-Pro three times and selected to eight Pro Bowls, including the past six. He has been rated in the top 10 of the NFL Network’s Top 100 the past three years.
Miller became an immediate force in his first season, recording 11.5 sacks on his way to be selected NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. He hit his career high the following season with 18.5 sacks and recorded his first pro interception.
He’s finished with double-digit totals in sacks in seven seasons and will be looking this fall to bounce back from an eight-sack total in 2019.
Miller also has 6.5 sacks in seven postseason games.
Brian Allen was the first NFL player diagnosed
The coronavirus outbreak did not become widespread until after the NFL season concluded, by which time players had scattered to return home before beginning offseason training. That likely contributed to COVID-19 not spreading throughout the sport to the same degree experienced by NBA and NHL athletes.
Before Von Miller of the Denver Broncos was diagnosed with the coronavirus, only one other NFL player had come forward to confirm having contracted the virus.
Los Angeles Rams starting center Brian Allen, 24, revealed in early April that he had been diagnosed after waking up and realizing he had lost his sense of smell and taste. Allen, drafted out of Michigan State in 2018, said his other symptoms included headaches, a sore throat, and fatigue.
Allen had been undergoing treatment for a knee injury at the Rams’ training facility in California at the time of his illness. Allen was interviewed on TV last week during the second round of the NFL draft and thanked fans for their good wishes. He said he had experienced only mild symptoms.
