Von Miller dishes on Lamar Jackson, his favorite rooster, and his new Facebook show

MANHATTAN — The last time I saw Von Miller, we were playing an oversized game of Jenga next to a giant plastic mountain on a mini-golf course at the Mall of America. It was Super Bowl week in Minneapolis, and celebrities were rotating through Radio Row, doing things like playing oversized Jenga with reporters who were praying they’d be interesting.

With Miller, you never have to pray. He’s entertaining whether he’s sacking a quarterback on a football field, or hosting an episode of his Facebook Watch show “Von Miller’s Studio 58.” The series is based in Miller’s Denver basement and features his three brothers prominently. The four of them (and sometimes Miller’s father) go on adventures like traveling to Spain, hosting a rodeo auction, trying their hands at ice carving, and seeing how many pillows they can fit into Miller’s refrigerator.

I caught up with Miller in Manhattan after he’d just gotten back from filming a trip to Spain in early March. We talked about his show, the recent NFL Scouting Combine, his chicken farm, and our upcoming joint birthday party.

Your show is really good. I’m not just saying that. It’s so funny, it’s so smart, it’s so bizarre. Can you tell me a little bit about the process is of coming up with the segments?

Von Miller: It’s something I’ve been trying to do for a long time. There’s a lot of thought that went into what type of character I’m going to be, what will I say, what will I do, how will I hold the audiences’ attention. It was a lot of people around me too, I have a great staff of creative, smart, and funny guys that help me out as well. It’s definitely a team effort, and just being around writers and all the people that we have on the show is a fun time.

The segments I like the most are when you do send-ups of endorsements. Like, you endorse gourds. Where did that come from?

VM: Just one of the producers was like, let’s do gourds. Yeah. Let’s do gourds. I think it just ties into the type of person I am. I can make this napkin on the table here, I can make this napkin attractive and marketable.

Can you do that please? Can you make this napkin attractive?

[Miller, who’s been lying down on a couch, suddenly sits up, stares at the brown napkin, and begins speaking in an Infomercial Guy voice.]

VM: THIS NAPKIN. This napkin! Is sustainable! It wipes your mouth good and it decomposes! It’s the best!

Wow, you’re really making me want to buy that napkin. Are those your Invisalign braces sitting on it?

VM: Yeah. I just ate. They’re brand new, so they’re still clean. Want to try them?

Yeah, let me— NO, that’s disgusting. So what’s been your favorite interview you’ve done? You’ve had a bunch of really cool people on.

VM: I like interviewing my buddies. Like Jalen Ramsey, Odell [Beckham Jr.]. The interview with Odell was fun. But I think Keegan-Michael Key was probably the best one. He has so much energy. I’ve always been on the other side of interviews, sitting there the way I am now, as you’re asking me questions and I answer. But on the other side it’s really ... it’s hard work. Because you just can’t like say, “Hey tell me about yourself.” You know? You gotta feel the energy and go as the interview goes. If I’m not giving a lot of energy, you can’t pull it out of me. It has to be a natural environment. Your energy dictates my energy. Seeing it from the other side of interviews is dope. I think interviewing is my strong point. It’s fun. I like to do research on the guys before I interview them. You just can’t go in there dry interviewing someone.

You are good at interviewing. You keep these through lines between episodes. My favorite is how you ask everyone with a less common name if they know another person with their name.

VM: That started when I was interviewing Emanuel. Emanuel Sanders was my very first interview, and that’s my buddy. I go to work with him every day, I see him every day. So doing an interview with him, I was comfortable. It was a good first step. Interviewing him I was just being goofy, like, “Do you know any other Emanuels?” And then I was like, I’m just going to make up some shit real fast and see if he’s going to follow along with it. And say, like, “Yeah, I know him too.” So i did it, and he was like “No, I don’t know him! I gotta look him up!” He was real into it. And then, when I told him I was lying, everybody busted out laughing. So I was like yeah, I’m going to do this from now on.

Do you know any other Vons?

VM: Von Dutch? I was in Germany and I asked them, what does Von mean? And this guy was like, whenever you’ve got a royal or someone higher up, they’re, like, Dirk Von Newton. You know, It connects the two. It’s not a name.

Switching gears a bit — were you watching any of the Combine?

VM: Yeah. Shaquem Griffin, I mean, he’s the biggest story, I think. And Saquon Barkley. He was crazy, crazy at the combine. And, I mean, Bradley Chubb saying he wants to be a mix of [Raiders defensive end] Khalil Mack and Von Miller put together. Like, damn, Khalil and Von Miller? I’d like to see it, but just being Khalil is tough enough.

I like it, though. I think whenever you get the younger guys, it’s a new fresh perspective on how the league is supposed to be viewed. And that’s what you’re supposed to do at the combine — go in an believe in yourself. I love kicking it with the rookies, I love being around the rookies. I feel like they keep me young and keep me fresh in what I do. Watching the combine and their interviews is fun.

What do you make of the talk about Lamar Jackson? About people saying, ‘Well he’s not a quarterback?’

VM: That’s just how it is. At the combine they dissect everything, and everyone has their opinions on everything. I showed up at the combine, and before I ran a 40, I was 247 pounds. Mike Mayock was like, “Oh, this guy is way too big.” And then I ran, and I was faster than everybody, and he was like, “Oh okay.” So it’s just about proving people wrong, playing your game.

[Jackson] is a quarterback. He’s never played any other position. Why would he go play receiver now? The teams that pick him up now will give him a shot at playing quarterback. There are so many other players that are playing quarterback that shouldn’t have been playing quarterback, and they did alright. So Lamar is a Heisman winner. He’s going to play quarterback in the National Football League.

Athletes are often seen as simply athletes, and that’s it. Do you feel like you’ve found a good way of breaking through, where you can be other things besides a football player?

VM: Yeah, I say all the time I just play football. I just play football right now, but I have a lot of different things that I do. I think the show is just the starting point. But I’m just a football player from eight in the morning to 4:30 in the afternoon. When I’m out in public, when I introduce myself to somebody and they don’t know what I do, I just say “I’m Von.” You know? It’s just my job. That doesn’t make me who I am. And I think I do it well, so people recognize me for that, but there are a lot of other things I do, and it’s great to be seen in other moments besides just being an athlete.

Do you think after you’re done playing you’d want to go into either hosting more stuff or acting?

VM: I like Michael Strahan and everything Michael Strahan has done with his career. I like The Rock. I mean, whatever’s in front of me, I’m going to take it.

You told me something at the Super Bowl which didn’t make it into the video we made, which is the names of your chickens on your poultry farm.

VM: They’re not names. They’re numbers.

Right, aren’t they after your teammates?

VM: Yeah, they’re numbered after a couple of my teammates. Some of their personalities are similar. So I’ve got an 18, a 94. For Peyton [Manning] and DeMarcus [Ware]. They’re both roosters.

Which is your favorite rooster?

VM: Probably 18, Peyton.

Does Peyton know he has a chicken named after him?

VM: Yeah, he knows.

Has he met him?

VM: No, he hasn’t met him. I just think there’s such a stigma on society. If you go to recess and you call somebody a chicken, they’re like, “Man, I’m not a chicken.” It’s an insult. But honestly, like, roosters? If you ever watch them, they’ve got some of the dopest personalities. They don’t run from anything.

So do you want to bust through the chicken stereotypes?

VM: That hill is so steep for me to climb. But I would like to inform people it’s not bad to be called a rooster.

No, I think they need to be more woke about chickens.

VM: They have to. There has to be nine hens to every rooster. There’s so much testosterone that he needs nine hens to every rooster. What guy wouldn’t want to live like that? Why is it such a bad thing to be called a chicken?

Chickens are good, you heard it here first.

VM: Chickens are good.

So, your dad initially didn’t want you to play football, right? You mom would hide the fact that you were playing in school. How does he feel now?

VM: He’s blown away. Everybody was blown away. Never in a million years did we think ... I just had a dream of playing in the National Football League. Everything else on top of it is, like, a plus. I’m just an average guy that got lucky. How I live my life is never too big or too small for me. I just take it one day at a time.

Well, it’s luck, sure, but you also worked really hard to get here.

VM: Yeah, but a lot of guys work hard. Everybody works hard. I’m extremely blessed and grateful to be in the situation I am. You just gotta take advantage of the opportunities you get.

So what are you going to do for your birthday coming up on March 26?

VM: I don’t know, that’s like the third time someone’s asked me. I got, what 20 days? How long you got?

I have 19 days.

VM: You’re an Aries too, right?

Yeah, you were born the day after me. At the Super Bowl we decided we’re having a joint birthday party, remember? We’ll have it for your Facebook show. We can go fishing.

VM; In the Ozarks. Yeah. i’ve been traveling a lot, but when I get to Miami tonight I have tomorrow and the rest of the week off. I’m going to figure out what we’re going to do for our birthday. And I’ll let you know.

Great. I can’t wait.

This interview was lightly edited for clarity and length.