Blue White Illustrated

LAST WORD T I M O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . C O M ollowing the individual journeys, learning the reasons why, and then writing about them – that's what makes this job special. Everybody has a story, and every one of those stories is interesting in its own way, but a select few always stand out. Recently, Shareef Miller's is one that has kept my atten- tion. I remember first talking to Miller when he was a lanky defensive end re- cruit from Philadelphia. He was trans- ferring to a new high school at the time, hoping to improve a grade-point aver- age that was below 2.0. Miller was de- termined to make progress, but college coaches were slowing on him as they awaited his SAT scores. In the end, he did what he needed to do on his standardized tests, and he got his grades mostly in order, too. Then, late in the 2015 recruiting cycle, James Franklin followed through on his initial scholarship offer, affording Miller an opportunity to pursue his dream at Penn State. Shortly after national signing day that year, I remember learning more about Miller. I remember him telling me about a time when he was 15 years old, walking home from practice in northeast Philly. He was attacked from behind and had his phone stolen. Worried that the of- fender was armed, Miller was lucky the incident didn't turn out worse. "I was shocked and scared at the same time," he recalled. A few months after that conversation, violence struck his family again. His brother Mikal was killed in a shooting. Miller was devastated and confused, as the tragedy occurred the month before he was to leave for college. He thought about not going. But with a heart full of determination, he followed through on his plans. His brother became his motivation throughout his college career, which consisted of a redshirt year, three sea- sons, 26 starts and a total of 40 games played. Each time out, Miller would dedicate himself to his brother's mem- ory, often writing Mikal's nickname on a piece of a equipment or wrist tape. While his brother was his motivation, his mom, Tekeya Cook, was his reason. Earlier this month, Miller announced that he will forgo his senior season and enter the NFL Draft. Some draft projec- tions have him going in the middle rounds; others have him going un- drafted altogether. If the 6-foot-5, 260- pound pass rusher can run a 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds, as defensive line coach Sean Spencer has said he can, Miller is going to get his shot some- where. A valid argument can be made that by returning to Penn State for one more season, by increasing his sack numbers and continuing to gain strength, Miller could have improved his stock in the eyes of professional scouts and general mangers. Maybe, instead of going in the later rounds, he could have turned him- self into a first- or second-rounder. Or maybe it wouldn't have worked out that way at all. Maybe he would have plateaued, or worse, suffered a setback. A football player's prime earning years are fleeting. It's shortsighted to fault someone for choosing to capitalize on his market value – for himself and his family – while he can. Nothing in life is guaranteed, not even tomorrow, and Miller knows that as intimately as any- body. Four other Penn State juniors declared early this winter, as Miller was joined by offensive linemen Ryan Bates and Con- nor McGovern, running back Miles Sanders and defensive lineman Kevin Givens. One or two of those decisions no doubt caught Penn State followers by surprise. Miller's announcement, which was the first by a Nittany Lion junior, did not. It had been expected that he would leave. The choice to forgo that final season of eligibility was more than four years in the making. When he decided to go through with his plans to leave his mom for Penn State, shortly after his brother's 2015 murder, he did so with the intention of soon moving her out of the area in which they lived. "It was like, 'I have to get out to get my family out,' " his mom told the York Daily Record in 2017. "He knew God chose him to lead the family." By now, Miller has earned the right to take his shot and see what he can earn in professional football. "He's worked for everything he's gotten, hasn't been given anything," Franklin said this past fall. "I'm proud of him. I think Shareef is a great example of why we're in col- lege athletics." Here's hoping he completes the big picture by someday getting his degree,too. He's worked hard for it and has come close to getting it, and given the rapid turnover of personnel in the NFL, a diploma is often worth more than a pro football career in the long run. Of the five Penn State players who opted to leave early, only Bates has graduated. Hopefully, the other four will come back and earn their degrees, too. I'm especially eager to see Miller in a cap and gown, because I've gotten to know his story from the beginning, and that's the type of happy ending we all want to see. ■ Miller's tale F

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