MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ The Billy J. Murphy Athletic Complex is buzzing as the Memphis football team prepares for spring practice, but Anthony Miller has no trouble navigating the commotion.
The Bears wide receiver walks into a training room filled with players on tables and in tubs and doles out handshake-hugs to everybody he sees, stopping only for a few moments to take photos with a group of recruits.
His return goes on like this, with frequent stops as his old crew greets him, often with jokes about making the big money. It's a reminder that Miller is only a year removed from his All-America senior season with the Tigers, even if the many changes in his life make him feel as if it has been longer.
"I really don't know some of the younger guys," Miller says. "That's how old I'm getting."
Until May 2018, Miller, 24, spent his entire football career playing in the Memphis area, so he has measuring sticks all around the city to show how far he has come. But at his second home at Halas Hall roughly 550 miles away, he hopes he's only beginning after a rookie season in which he had 33 catches for 423 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns in 15 regular-season games.
That he played his first year with an injured left shoulder he says painfully dislocated "maybe five or six times" makes Miller believe there's more to come with the Bears. He had surgery to repair the torn labrum in January, and the rehab hasn't dulled the confidence the Bears coaches embraced last season.
At one point on Miller's tour, he stops at a wall featuring former Memphis players who went on to the NFL _ running back DeAngelo Williams, defensive tackle Dontari Poe, kicker Stephen Gostkowski.
"I should be right here," Miller says, jabbing his finger at the wall and moving in closer. "Put my face right here. You know what I mean?"
