Can Denver Broncos star Von Miller Handle the Pressure?

Von Miller is the new face of the Broncos, but does that mean he can’t horse around?

- Mina Kimes

On a lazy June morning, while most of the Broncos are at minicamp, Von Miller is plodding around the second floor of a mansion in Hollywood, his footsteps thumping like jackhammers. As I wait downstairs with his father, I study the house. There is a wine cellar, which is visible through a glass window in the floor, and a pool with an MTV Cribs–worthy view. Towels and bathing trunks are strewn on the deck. In the living room, there are empty pizza boxes, stubbed-out cigars and an abandoned hoverboard; a book about baby seals is cracked open on the coffee table. The scene hints at a mildly debaucherous night—a 10-year-old boy’s idea of a bachelor party.

Miller is spending his summer here, populating the glassy rental with an ever-expanding crew of friends. After a few minutes go by, his father turns on the television and a report about Aqib Talib getting shot in the leg flashes across the screen. Von Sr., who is soft-spoken and reserved—basically the polar opposite of his son—sighs. He tells me he often finds himself parenting the various young men in Von’s life.

“Sometimes you need someone to tell you it’s OK to make mistakes,” he says.

Miller had moved to Los Angeles in February, a few weeks after putting up one of the greatest defensive performances in playoff history. You remember what he did. Tom Brady remembers. Cam Newton definitely remembers—and so does John Elway, who stood on the stage beaming with Miller after the Super Bowl as confetti drizzled down.