Intense Focus

Eric Peterson, The Forum
Published Friday, October 17, 2008

Growing up on a family farm near Goodridge, Minn., Jon Miller dreaded days when he had to shovel grain. "A day of shoveling grain, it was a tough day," said the Minnesota State Moorhead linebacker. While manually moving grain was among the jobs he disliked most, those types of chores prepared him well. "I knew I had to do my work and that kind of helped me in college," Miller said.

Using that workmanlike approach, Miller has become a fixture on MSUM’s defense for four years. The 6-foot, 205-pound senior leads the Dragons in tackles, heading into Saturday’s home game against Minnesota State Mankato, which re-joined the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference this season. Miller also led the team in tackles as a junior and sophomore and ranked fourth as a freshman.

"He plays with great intensity," Dragons head coach Damon Tomeo said. "He’s a great example for any young player on the team. He wants to be the best. He is very competitive. … It promotes that consistency that is so important." Miller has been a constant even when things have been inconsistent around him.

In his time at MSUM, he has played for three different head coaches, endured multiple losing seasons and rebounded from a number of heartbreaking defeats. Like his upbringing on his family farm taught him, Miller continues to show up ready for work. "Losing is not fun for me, but a challenge is," said Miller, who is a finance and accounting major. "I don’t regret it at all. I think it’s made all of us better people to go through this."

Dragons senior linebacker Dennis Oswald has been Miller’s roommate for the last four years. Oswald has witnessed Miller’s commitment, which he says is constant whether Miller is on the football field, in the weight room or classroom. "He probably studies more than anyone you know," said Oswald, who is out for the year hurting his back earlier this season. "He’s always in his room reading books. … He’s a pretty focused kid."

The one thing lacking from Miller’s career is more wins. The Dragons are 12-27 in his 39 varsity games. The most frustrating thing for Miller is how close the Dragons have come to being a winning program in the last two seasons. Last fall, MSUM went 4-7, but lost five games by a combined 13 points. The Dragons (1-6, 1-5 NSIC) have lost four games by a total of 16 points this fall, including a 24-17 overtime defeat against the University of Mary last Saturday.
"People just see your record and they don’t know how your games went," said Miller, a Minnesota Vikings fan. "It’s really disappointing to be 1-6, but we all feel that we are better than that."