AUBURN, Ala. – A love affair with football began for a very tall man at a very small age.
Auburn senior offensive lineman Izavion “Too Tall” Miller has found his heart in the gridiron game, and he is grateful for its impact on his life on and off the field.
“I’ve been playing football since I was 6,” the Memphis native recalled of his introduction to the game. “Some random guy with the Memphis Broncos came up one day to our door and asked if I wanted to play pee-wee football. And I’ve been at it ever since.
“I also played baseball growing up – third base – but football is my game. In high school is where I got my nickname ‘Too Tall.’ My high school coach, Jerome Griffin, gives everybody a nickname and mine was ‘Too Tall.’ I guess because I am tall, but that was a great player, too,” Miller said, referring to NFL legend Ed “Too Tall” Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.
Miller’s progression in football from Wooddale High in Memphis to Southwest Mississippi Community College to Auburn has been slow and steady, as the results show.
“Going into juco, I wasn’t even expecting to start when I got there,” Miller recalled of his first season at Southwest Mississippi. “But then the game got real easy and my second year of juco, I started recognizing all the offense. That’s when I thought maybe I could do this full-time at a higher level.”