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Army affords Jaxon Miller unique opportunity to play football, serve his country

Jaxon Miller knows his purpose in life.

“I really want to serve my country. I want to be the person that helps protect people and fight evil in the world,” he said emphatically.

Miller’s military commitment begins at 6:30 a.m. Monday when he reports to West Point, New York, for basic training. Once that is completed, he can get back into football pads and take the field with the Black Knights as a special teams long snapper and linebacker.

“This is the best of both worlds. I get the opportunity to play college football and I get to serve my country,” he said.

Upon graduation and the end of his collegiate football career, Miller will have a 5-year active duty commitment to serve and a 3-year reserve commitment – unless the National Football League comes calling.

Miller started long snapping as a freshman at Triton Central. He saw it as the quickest way to get on the football field on Friday nights. The pressure of delivering the football to the punter in a tight situation or to the holder for the field goal kicker when the game was on the line was never too much.

“You can’t fold under pressure, that is probably the biggest part because you will be backed up to the end zone on the 1-yard line and if you send it or do something silly you will give up a safety … or who knows what,” explained Miller. “You can’t crack under pressure.”

Miller became so accomplished at, as he put it, “not getting noticed,” that scholarship offers became an option.

Miller was integral on special teams at Triton Central but also was an offensive and defensive lineman throughout his career.

“I even played tight end and wide receiver a few weeks my junior year when Luke Hornung got hurt,” laughed Miller.

Miller became an expert on using social media platforms to demonstrate his long snapping workouts. And he attended camps and showcases where college coaches could see his skills on full display.

Recruiting information then rolled in from Indiana, Louisville, Mississippi State, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Air Force Academy, Fresno State, Ball State and Michigan State to name a few.

“Growing up wanting to play college football, getting recruited by these big schools … it was like every time a new coach would reach out to me, it felt so good. It was such an honor,” he said.

Putting a military commitment with a college football opportunity never really crossed his mind until Army reached out.

“Army recruited me,” said Miller. “It probably has the best culture in the country, in my opinion. It’s a true brotherhood.

“I had the best relationship with the staff. We talked almost every day. They were checking in on me. It really felt like family and that is important in college football.”

There were no on campus visits, though. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Miller to conduct recruiting virtually.

“I had 20 college visits cancelled all over the country,” he said.

Triton Central head coach Tim Able guesses the number of long snappers in the country receiving a full ride to college is less than five.

“There is no doubt (Jaxon) is the complete package of work ethic, team-first attitude, lead by example and dependability,” said Able. “Those things put him up very high, maybe all-time as the highest I’ve seen in my 38 years of doing this.”

Able believes Miller will shine even brighter in the tougher environment that Army will provide.

“I am looking forward to seeing him work with kids that have that same motivational will and self-discipline,” said Able. “He was made for this.”

Miller is the only child of Frank and Amanda Miller – a 20-year member of the Indianapolis police force and an elementary school teacher, respectively. He credits Able with pushing him when it was needed the most.

“I think coach Able has prepared me well over the last four years,” said Miller. “He’s been a great leader and he’s taught me a lot. If I screwed up, he was on me, which was great because I know I won’t be ‘right’ at basic training. They will always be on me.”

“I just tried to provide opportunities for him,” said Able. “He is really good about communicating to me what he was doing for workouts. And then he got the Army program … but I continued to send him ideas that I ran across.”

Miller plans to explore two options once his collegiate eligibility expires.

“After West Point, I want to be a Ranger,” he said. “I want to go fight evil in the world and protect the people on the home front. It would be a lot of training, probably a lot of time away from home.

“It’s like any Army commitment only it’s a lot more physical and I like that idea though because you are always training for something just like sports was in high school for me.”

There is a possibility Miller could defer his commitment if the NFL becomes a viable option.

“Right now, for Army, you are allowed to leave and postpone your service until after (your opportunity ends),” he said. “I feel like it’s a good representation for the Armed Forces if you can put an athlete in the NFL.”

Miller leaves for New York Saturday with sightseeing on the agenda before reporting to West Point. It will be the last few days where he can relax before a new phase in his life begins.

“It took so much hard work and really getting out of my comfort zone physically and mentally to be able to pursue an opportunity like this,” said Miller.

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