Daniel “The Sports Hound” Trawick
@TheSportsHound of SportsHoundBlog.com
Contributor of AGSH
Photo: John Leyba/The Denver Post
When you think about sports and the fact that there aren’t too many “dynasty” type franchises, winning championships is never an easy task. It’s so many different factors to take into consideration; injuries, schedules, age/talent level, chemistry, etc. Going out every season and performing at your highest level just doesn’t anoint you the champion, especially in team sports. Many believe the most difficult factor to overcome is guaranteeing that your “team” will win it all.
Denver Broncos All-Pro linebacker Von Miller is the latest athlete to guarantee that his team will the championship. 100% of the time I’m in complete agreement that it is a dumb idea, despite the players reasoning behind it. I feel it was stupid to put a bulls-eye on his team, but because of a personal situation in my life I can understand. As reported by ESPN, Miller reportedly made the guarantee after his 6-year-old cousin Jeremiah came out of a coma after a recent car accident.
I understand that right now Miller’s emotions are high and he is not typically a player that makes a lot of noise in the media. He may receive some backlash for this from his team, but I believe that some things happen that we can’t explain.
Prior to the 1996 NFL season, my older brother was shot in the neck. The bullet ricocheted off of his spine into one of his lungs and he had a very small chance of survival. Every single day I went to see him at the hospital and day by day he started to get better. Once the tubes were taken out of him and they gave him a device to cover his throat so he could talk the first thing he said was “I had a vision that the Green Bay Packers are going to win the Super Bowl.”
I was convinced he was crazy, because during that time the Dallas Cowboys reigned supreme (which made me sick to my stomach). We would sit in the hospital room watching pre-season games, mostly the Philadelphia Eagles, because we do live in Philly. Every week he’d just keep saying, “remember when I was laying on my death-bed and I said the Packers are going to win. Watch!”
I had to listen to that crap all season long which started driving me crazy. Midway through the season, it seemed as if Brett Favre was on a mission, while Reggie White was too and I started to think maybe they had a chance. Then the Cowboys beat them and I figured they still couldn’t beat them. During the playoffs, the 2nd year franchise Carolina Panthers defeated the Cowboys and I think that opened the door for the Packers.
Green Bay went on to win the Super Bowl over the New England Patriots and by then my brother was healthy and annoying again. He never shut up and kept saying, “I told you, I told you.” To this day he still brings that up and I am inclined to think that Miller’s nephew inspired this “destiny” type of feeling in him.
We all know that the Broncos are a great team and under Peyton Manning in his 2nd season with the team, they are among the favorites. Miller is definitely the type of player and leader that his teammates will rally around, but will it be enough? We shall see once the season comes and goes, but I feel as though that could be his motivation similar to the Baltimore Ravens “Power of Ray” situation this past season.
When it’s all said and done, I think the player and/or type of person the player is comes into account when guarantees are made. It’s never smart to give other players reasons to want to beat you more, but certain players will have backup. Miller is the type of player who will, but a guy like Randy Moss will just cause problems making a statement like that.
Do you think athlete guarantees are smart (not including athletes not in a team sport)?
