Von Miller Contracts Coronavirus

Von Miller Contracts Coronavirus

Denver Broncos star defensive lineman, Von Miller, has tested positive for coronavirus. Miller is, thus far, the highest-profile NFL player to publicly announce he has contracted the virus.

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The defensive lineman was training in San Francisco when the city issued a stay-at-home order for March 16. He returned to his home in Denver shortly thereafter, where he began to develop a slight cough, despite following all government issued social distancing guidelines.

Von Miller, who has asthma, decided to get tested Friday after he started to develop a cough, and noticed that his inhaler “wasn’t working like it normally should.”

“I was shocked,” Miller explained Friday on NBC’s “Today” show. “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 has stated that he has begun to feel better, and that his symptoms are mild, but he decided to publicly announce his testing positive so that people “take this seriously,” according to Miller’s agent, Joby Branion.

The Denver Broncos also released a statement regarding Miller’s diagnosis, stating that the star defender wanted “to share his diagnosis publicly to emphasize that anyone can be afflicted with coronavirus.” 

After a stand-out college career at Texas A&M, Von Miller was drafted second by the Denver Broncos in the 2011 NFL Draft. Considered one of the best defensive players in the league, he received the Super Bowl MVP award after the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50. Miller has also been selected to the Pro Bowl eight times, in addition to receiving first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie.  

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More than 8,200 people have tested positive in Colorado, while 355 have died from complications due to the virus. 

Von Miller is unsure of when the NFL should allow players to reconvene for practices and team meetings, let alone began to play games.

“Whatever is safe. … My vote is to do whatever is safe,” Von Miller said. “This is a very, very serious disease. And I have all the resources here for me, I have a team physician right down the street. I’m fortunate to have somebody that can go get groceries. I was fortunate to have attention. There’s so many other people out there, that’s not the case for them. This is a very, very serious disease, and I feel like everybody should take it seriously.”

“… We’ve got a lot of intelligent minds on this thing. I feel like we should all just do whatever is safe, take the safest step possible. People want sports and people want to be safe. There’s got to be some merger. It’s 2020, there’s got to be something we can work out.”