What’s the point of going on a crazy, drug-fueled vacation if you can’t tell people about it?
Washington Commanders edge rusher and former Super Bowl MVP Von Miller described not 1, not 2 … but 3 drug-fueled ayahuasca trips over the last year during an appearance on the “Glory Daze” podcast with fellow Texas A&M alum and former NFL quarterback Johnny Manziel.
Ayahuasca is a psychoactive, hallucinogenic drink that many Americans travel to South American to consume and has been praised for its social, medicinal and spiritual effects.
Translation: You trip super hard and think deeply about your life.
“I’ve been 3 times in the last calendar year,” Miller told Manziel on August 17. “The first time, it was like these profound realizations about life and, like, I’ve been doing it all wrong and my perspective is different. Second time you go it’s all about me and self awareness and what I’ve been doing to contribute to the successes in my life and the failures in my life. The third time I went I realized I don’t know (expletive). I really don’t know anything.”
Miller is hardly the first NFL player to talk about going on an ayahuasca retreat and using the reality-altering drug; it’s a trend that seems to have started with a 4-time NFL MVP doing it first.
Rodgers First NFL Player to Disclose Ayahuasca Trips
The NFL and ayahuasca use became inextricably entwined when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback and 4-time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers allowed cameras to follow him on one of his trips to take the drug for the Netflix documentary series “Enigma” chronicling one year in his life.
“NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers has long advocated for the use of psychedelic drugs, and now a new docuseries has captured the athlete on an ayahuasca trip,” Vanity Fair’s Kase Wickman wrote in December 2024. ” … He does the usual football player stuff: Some running around, some jersey-wearing, some physical therapy. There’s also some not-so-typical football player stuff: While filming the project during the NFL’s 2024 offseason, the 41-year-old travels to Costa Rica, where he attends an ayahuasca retreat with Miami Dolphins’ Jordan Poyer, the Chicago Bears’ Adrian Colbert, and the Buffalo Bills’ Von Miller.”
Miller signed a 1-year, $6.1 million contract with the Commanders on July 17.
Miller’s Drug Use Led to Lengthy Suspension
One of the surprising things about Miller being so forthright about his drug use is that he’s had issues with substance abuse in the past.
In 2013, the NFL suspended Miller for 6 games after he tried to cheat the NFL’s drug testing program with the help of a specimen collector.
“Miller’s initial diluted sample counted as a positive test and led to notification of his four-week suspension under the NFL’s substance-abuse policy,” ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen wrote in September 2013. “While Miller’s reps and the NFLPA were prepared to fight the suspension vigorously in the appeals process, sources said the NFL, NFLPA and Miller’s representatives became aware that the Broncos linebacker and the collector involved worked together in an attempt to help Miller avoid a failed test.”
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