Lights! Camera! Action! New lineman Von Miller is ready to be the star of the Rams

The Rams built their team for a Hollywood blockbuster finale in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium.

And his new star wasted no time getting in tune.

During his first appearance with Los Angeles reporters Wednesday, eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Von Miller used the same phrase five different times to describe his arrival at a star-studded Rams.

“I feel like in a movie,” he said.

Von Miller got very emotional when he talked to reporters in Denver about leaving the Broncos.

(Pat Graham / Associated Press)

Miller, 32, was acquired Monday in a trade with the Denver Broncos. The Rams gave up second- and third-round draft picks for a player who has 110½ sacks in his career and was the MVP in Super Bowl 50 after the 2015 season.

“The players are very excited to welcome Von with open arms,” ​​said coach Sean McVay, “and we are excited too.”

Miller joins a 7-1 team that includes defensive stars Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd, and an offense that features star quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“Adding him to a defense that already has a lot of playmakers has the potential to be something really special,” Stafford said.

Something, perhaps, cinematic.

Miller’s initial reaction to the exchange was surreal.

“I went to sleep 4-4,” he said, “and woke up 7-1.”

Include emotional movie-like moments.

“I cried a lot on Monday, but not all the tears were sad,” he said. “I also cried with joy to come to play with Aaron Donald.”

The Rams already have a league-high 25 sacks, so Miller’s addition has all the makings of an action movie.

“If you add me to that team, I feel like I can add and help some of these guys for sure,” he said.

Miller, the second player selected in the 2011 NFL draft, said he believed he would retire as the Bronco, the only team he has ever known.

But the emotions of the exchange began to dissipate during his flight to Los Angeles on Tuesday. As he gazed at the view of the Rocky Mountains, he told himself that he was leaving Denver as a Bronco and landing as Ram in Los Angeles.

Ramsey was the first Rams player to get close to Miller, who likened his situation as a new kid to school and Ramsey’s welcome to a scene from a school bus from the Oscar-winning film “Forrest Gump.”

Miller, who will wear No. 40, is tending to an ankle injury that left him out of the last Broncos game. He exercised with a coach, and McVay said his availability for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans would be determined as the week progresses.

Meanwhile, Miller is acclimating to the new team colors – “I’ve always used blue and orange,” he said – and to a new situation.

“It all feels weird,” he said, “but it feels extremely good to me.”

Apparently Miller is already steeped in Rams history. Playing alongside Donald, he said, evokes the Rams “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line of the 1960s.

“You hear ‘Fearsome Foursome’ stories,” Miller said. “You hear stories of this legendary defense. We want to recreate that.

“They have been playing great defense all year. I just want to add something else. I just want to add some of the things I do best: my leadership and energy and my positive vibes. “

The Rams are “ready to win championships right now,” Miller said.

Miller has experience with that. In 2015, he was part of a Broncos team that included quarterback Peyton Manning and cornerback Aqib Talib, among others. The Broncos defeated the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl 50.

The Rams compare favorably with that team in some respects, he said. But that doesn’t guarantee a Hollywood ending.

“You still have to go out and win,” he noted. “A lot of super teams have been built that were supposed to do this and that, and they didn’t live up to expectations.

“My goal is simply to contribute to this team and their victories.”

Etc.

Stafford did not practice due to a stiff back, but said he would play Sunday. Ramsey (rest), catcher Robert Woods (foot) and catcher Cooper Kupp (rest) also did not practice. Rookie lineman Bobby Brown III was absent for personal reasons, McVay reported. … Stafford on the Rams’ decision to release catcher DeSean Jackson: “It’s disappointing that it didn’t work out. I have a lot of respect for DeSean and for the talent he has as a player ”.

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