Nobody had any idea how fast Mike Miller could run, least of all his father.
So, when Miller came home asking for track shoes to run in his first meet in junior high school, his father declined the request.
“He looked at me and said, ‘You can’t run; wear those shoes you have on,’” Miller said. “I wore those shoes in my first meet and never had to run in tennis shoes again after he saw me run.”
His father was understandably skeptical of his son’s talent.
“There was nobody in my family who was an athlete,” Miller said. “Nobody ever did anything further than junior high school. That’s the reason I believe my dad said what he said to me that day.”
It was a gym teacher at Emerson Junior High School in Flint, Carl White, who noticed Miller’s speed when he had students race one another.
Miller’s wheels would take him to the University of Tennessee, where he was a two-sport athlete, playing football in the fall before running indoor track in the winter and outdoor track in the spring. Miller, the state Class A champion in the 220-yard dash in 1976 at Flint Northern, chose Tennessee over Michigan so he could continue in both sports.
“It was rough, especially in the spring time,” Miller said. “I would go to track practice, then go to football practice. I went to Tennessee on a track scholarship and just played football, because I wanted to make sure I was able to run track. That’s the reason I didn’t go to Michigan. (Bo Schembechler) told me I had to be at spring football practice.
“The only thing about spring football practice is it’s right before nationals in track and field and I wanted warmer weather. You might be lucky to have warm weather for the state meet the first week of June (in Michigan).”
Miller excelled in both sports, becoming an eight-time All-American on the track and an NFL draft pick as a wide receiver in football. The Green Bay Packers made him a fourth-round pick, 104th overall, in 1983. With the Los Angeles Olympic Games one year away, Miller had a decision to make. He ran the world’s fastest time in the 200 meters in 1982, clocking 20.15 seconds at altitude in Provo, Utah. The seventh-fastest time that year was run by a rising star named Carl Lewis.
Miller chose the sport that was more beneficial financially, signing with the Packers. Green Bay, which was set at wide receiver, traded Miller to the New York Giants before the start of the 1983 season.
“I qualified for the Olympic Trials in 1980,” Miller said. “I probably would’ve at least made a relay team. I was hot in ’80. In 1983, at that time, professional athletes could not go to the Olympics. There was no money in track and field back then. They’re paying them a little bit now. I just went on to football, so when ’84 came around, I was a professional athlete and couldn’t participate.
“I kind of wish I would have waited, but you’re a young kid, 21 years old; you’re looking for financial stability. The NFL lights are shining in your face. I took it. I look back at it, it’s something you think about. It’s like when you pull a trigger to a gun; once you do it, you can’t get the bullet back.”
Miller played in 13 games for the Giants in 1983, catching seven passes for 170 yards. He spent the entire 1984 season on injured reserve after getting hurt in training camp.
He was working as a truant officer at Lowell School in Flint in 1985 when he got a call from the New Orleans Saints around midseason. He played in three games with the Saints in what would be his final NFL season.
“Not too many people get to live out their dreams like that,” Miller said. “If you look at the number of football players in the United States, then break down to college, it’s a small number of them. Not even 1% of football players make it to the NFL.
“A lot of that had to do with timing, most of it had to do with staying healthy and a lot of it had to do with thinking. A lot of good athletes can’t remember plays. Once you get to that level, everybody is good, everybody is fast. So, then it comes to that mind. You’ve got to outthink that person across from you.”
For all the success Miller had on the track and gridiron, those weren’t his first options as an athlete.
“Actually, basketball was my favorite sport, because I was bigger than everybody,” he said. “I’m the same size now as I was in sixth grade. I didn’t get any more height after sixth grade. I was 6 feet in sixth grade. I was a center then. Everybody caught up with me in high school.”
Miller wasn’t blessed with tremendous height, but he was blessed on the home front. He owes his success to his parents, Eddie and Mattie, even if his father was initially skeptical about his ability as a runner.
“I couldn’t dream of better parents,” said Miller, who lives in Youngstown, Ohio. “Sometimes kids these days don’t get that, because we as Americans say, ‘What have you done for me lately?’ and get divorced. My parents stayed together, fought through it. Now, they just get divorced and these kids are raised without two parents. I had great parents.
“I don’t care where I played, I could look up in the stands, whether I was in New York or New Orleans, Tennessee or Kentucky, I could look up in the stands and see my dad’s face. My mom would be there, too. She wouldn’t watch me run a play. She thought she would jinx me. She would go to the bathroom. It was always good to know I had my parents’ support.”
