Christian Miller (born June 16, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is currently a free agent. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

College career

Miller was a team captain and a member of 2

College Football Playoff National Championship The College Football Playoff National Championship is a post-season college football bowl game, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), which began play in the 2014 college football season. ...

teams as well as 4

SEC Championship The SEC Championship Game is an annual American football game that has determined the Southeastern Conference's season champion since 1992. The championship game pits the SEC East Division regular season champion against the West Division regula ...

teams while with the Crimson Tide. A four-star recruit and the top ranked player in the state of South Carolina heading into

, Miller was primarily used as an outside linebacker in college, although coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. (; born October 31, 1951) is an American football coach who has been the head football coach at the University of Alabama since 2007. Saban previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins ...

sometimes experimented with him at inside linebacker in practice due to his versatility. Miller's junior season was widely hampered by injuries, but was highlighted with a sack in the

2017 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that was used to determine a national champion of college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2016 season. The game was played at Raymond Jame ...

. In his senior season, Miller was a consistent threat off the edge recording 8.5 sacks. In week 3, Miller was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after recording 2.5 sacks and 5 total tackles against the Ole Miss Rebels. Unfortunately, Miller strained his hamstring in the

2018 Orange Bowl The 2018 Orange Bowl was a college football bowl game played on Saturday, December 29, 2018, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The 85th edition of the Orange Bowl was one of two College Football Playoff semifinal games, the game featured two of the ...

and missed the

2019 College Football Playoff National Championship The 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that determined a national champion in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2018 season. It was played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, ...

game due to the injury.

Professional career

At the 2019

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footb ...

, Miller recorded a 38.5-inch vertical jump and had the longest arm length measured for a linebacker at 35 1/8.

Carolina Panthers

Miller was drafted by the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in the fourth round (115th overall) of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. In week 3 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, Miller recorded his first 2 career sacks on fellow rookie

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M, Murray played college football at University of Okl ...

in the 38–20 win. On August 3, 2020, Miller announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On August 31, 2021, Miller was waived by the Panthers.

Personal life

Miller's father, Corey Miller, was a nine-year NFL veteran who spent time with the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings.

References

External links

Alabama Crimson Tide bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Christian 1996 births Living people American football linebackers Alabama Crimson Tide football players Carolina Panthers players Players of American football from Columbia, South Carolina