How does LA Rams Von Miller handle pressure: “Pressure is a privilege”

The fact is that the LA Rams have played their entire season under pressure. What other term would you use to describe the willingness of the organization to exchange future draft picks for present-day players? Strategic investment? Leveraging? Some obscure accounting/financial terminology that equates to transferring future earnings into present-day assets?

Call it what you want, but the bottom line is that a host of NFL professionals within the LA Rams organization staked their professional reputations on those players added to the roster over the course of the season. Whether intentional or not, that has added a lot of pressure to the team to succeed now.

From some perspectives, pressure is counter-productive. It is a term to describe the mental tension whereby expectations are elevated. It is also a term to describe the encumbrance, the burdened internalization of outside forces and goals, whether or not those goals are realistic, or even possible. Of course, all of these meanings carry a sense of negativity with them. So let’s look for a different interpretation, okay?

“Pressure is a privilege.” – Von Miller

We need to look no further than veteran outside linebacker Von Miller for his take on the matter. After all, he is probably the one player on the team with a tremendous amount of pressure to perform this season, in each game. How does he cope?

Now keep in mind, Von Miller was traded away by the Denver Broncos, a team that at one time considered him an untouchable player. That designation came with good reason, as Von Miller was every bit the face of the Broncos defense as Aaron Donald is the face of the LA Rams franchise. So being traded had to hurt deeply.

His moment to shine in the spotlight occurred in 2015 when he helped lead the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl victory. In those three playoff games, he had 13 tackles, five quarterback sacks, two tackles for a loss, one interception, two pass deflections, and two forced fumbles.

Six years later, he is back in the NFL Playoffs. In three playoff games for the Rams, he has 12 tackles, two quarterback sacks, four tackles for a loss, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery. Miller has helped set the tone for the LA Rams defense throughout the playoffs.

The LA Rams have one more game to win, one more team that stands in their way of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy for the first time for the city of Los Angeles. That’s quite a bit of pressure, isn’t it? Well, in the words of Von Miller:

‘Pressure is a privilege.’

And so it is. And so it is.