Christopher James Miller (born August 9, 1965)[1] is an American football coach and former player. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Miller played college football for the Oregon Ducks and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft with the 13th overall pick.[2] He also played in the NFL for the Los Angeles / St. Louis Rams and Denver Broncos.
 Miller in 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 12, 13 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | August 9, 1965 Pomona, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 212 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Sheldon (Eugene, Oregon) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Oregon | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1987 / round: 1 / pick: 13 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Early life
Born in Pomona, California,[1][3] Miller was raised in Oregon. He attended Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon. He was star athlete in three sports: baseball, football and basketball.[4]
College athlete
Miller attended University of Oregon[1] where he played quarterback for the Oregon Ducks football team.[3] He was considered a risky recruit for higher ranked college teams due to concerns about a knee injury he suffered in high school.[4]
College statistics
- 1983: 17/41 for 229 yards with 2 TD vs 3 INT
- 1984: 145/289 for 1,712 yards with 10 TD vs 10 INT
- 1985: 182/329 for 2,237 yards with 18 TD vs 13 INT; 45 carries for 81 yards with 4 TD
- 1986: 216/356 for 2,503 yards with 12 TD vs 13 INT
Professional athlete
Miller played in 10 NFL seasons from 1987 to 1995 and 1999. His best year as a pro came during the 1991 season for the Falcons when he threw for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Concussions prevented him from playing longer. After he suffered five in a span of 14 months, he left the league for the first time.[5] A concussion during his comeback with the Denver Broncos in 1999 convinced him that it was best to retire for good.[6] He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
Coaching career
Miller was the head coach for South Eugene High School in Eugene, Oregon, from 2001 to 2006.[7] He was also the quarterback coach for the Arizona Cardinals from 2009 to 2011.[8] In 2013, Miller returned to South Eugene as head coach. In 2014, he was named the head football coach at West Linn High School.[7]
Before the 2019 season, Miller announced he would depart West Linn at year's end to join the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL as offensive coordinator.[9]
In May 2020, he was named head coach of Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon.[10] He never coached a game for the Lightning, however, as his former position at West Linn opened up a few weeks later and Miller returned to the Lions on July 8, 2020.[11]
References
- ^ a b c "Chris Miller". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 25, 2023.
- ^ a b "Rams Decide Chris Miller Is Their Future At Quarterback". Deseret News. March 8, 1994. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ a b Libby, Brian (2011). Tales from the Oregon Ducks Sideline (Revised ed.). Skyhorse Publishing Inc. p. 57. ISBN 9781613210345.
- ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE: FOOTBALL;Rams Release Miller", The New York Times, March 12, 1996.
- ^ Branch, John. "Miller yields to reality/ Slow recovery from concussion convinces", The Gazette, January 4, 2000.
- ^ a b Samuels, Doug (February 26, 2014). "Wednesday February 26, 2014". FootballScoop.com. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
West Linn (OR): Former Oregon and NFL quarterback, and South Eugene coach from 2002–06, Chris Miller has been hired as head coach.
- ^ "Chris Miller". footballuniversity.org. All American Games-Football University. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
- ^ Ulmer, Jerry (June 7, 2019). "West Linn football coach Chris Miller to leave Lions for XFL after 2019". Pamplin Media Group. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
- ^ Socotch, Peter (May 14, 2020). "Franklin High School taps Chris Miller as head football coach". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2020.
- ^ Socotch, Peter (July 8, 2020). "Chris Miller vacates Franklin post, returns as West Linn head FB coach". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 14, 2021.