San Francisco: Von Miller arrived at the media center by police escort Monday morning, moving briskly through the city streets on his way to the Super Bowl 50 most-valuable-player news conference.
His path to the quarterback the night before was even quicker.
The Denver Broncos linebacker had 2{ sacks of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and forced two fumbles, paving the way to a 24-10 victory on the NFL’s biggest stage and earning game MVP honours.
“The Super Bowl MVP is special, but the Super Bowl ring is something that I will keep with me for the rest of my life,” said Miller, selected No. 2 in the 2011 draft immediately after the Panthers took Newton. “I’ll be able to be with my brothers for eternity. I’ll be able to be with those guys 100 years from now, and that’s truly beautiful.”
Miller barely had time to sleep, what with the team’s postgame party at the team hotel in Santa Clara, then the early ride up to San Francisco for the news conference.
“I spent a lot of time with my teammates just celebrating, laughing ...,” he said. “I was talking to Coach (Gary) Kubiak, I was asking if you could make the plane do backflips on the way home. It’s definitely going to be a magical week for us. I’m looking forward to spending time with my teammates, going on tour.”
This much is guaranteed: The Broncos will play host to the 2016 Kickoff Opener, among the many perks of winning the Super Bowl.
Some other issues and changes to look for in 2016:
Comeback pattern
Football will be back in Los Angeles for the first time since the 1994 season when the Rams return to play at the Coliseum, their temporary home until their new Inglewood stadium opens in 2019.
It also will be the first time in 35 years that L.A. will be a one-team NFL town, as the Raiders joined the Rams in Southern California in 1982. (Then again, the Rams played in what is now Angel Stadium from 1980-94.)
They’re unmoved
While the Rams are rebuilding their fan base in L.A., the San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders are staying put for the time being. The Chargers have agreed to a deal in principle to be a tenant in the Inglewood stadium, but say they want to make one final run at a stadium deal to stay in San Diego. Their L.A. option expires in a year, but they have the option to extend it for a second year if they’re on the way to getting something done where they are.
If the Chargers opt not to make the move north, their one-year L.A. option rolls over to the Raiders. As it stands, the Raiders have yet to extend their lease with the Alameda County Coliseum Authority, but that probably won’t be a problem. The most likely scenario has them staying at least one more year, watching what the Chargers decide to do.
Concussions
This will continue to be a front-and-centre issue for the league, which saw the incidence of concussions rise by 58 per cent during the 2015 regular season. A lot of that could be because of more comprehensive and accurate monitoring of players, and more self-reporting.
Commissioner Roger Goodell points out the NFL has made 39 rules changes in the past decade in an attempt to curtail the problem, but there’s always more that can be done. During the next two months, the league will focus on looking at game tape to understand where the especially dangerous plays happen, how they happen, and whether there are patterns to their occurrence. The league needs those answers before it considers additional rules changes.
Two strikes, you’re out
Goodell is in favour of a two-strike system in which players will be ejected if they have two personal fouls in a game. We could well see that rule adopted, especially in the wake of embarrassing episodes such as New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s obviously looking to cheap-shot Carolina cornerback Josh Norman.
College football has that rule — two unsportsmanlike calls and you’re out. Something the NFL needs to determine is, what constitutes a personal foul for these purposes? Is it unnecessary roughness? Is it taunting? Because if all personal fouls fall under the ejectable standard, the Broncos would have had to play the second half of the Super Bowl without cornerback Aqib Talib, who was flagged for both taunting and a flagrant facemask in the first half.
— Los Angeles Times
