Rookie Premiere Spotlight: Braxton Miller on Social Media Endorsements

Miller sitting at a table, looking focused
Photo Credit: Kevin Koski, NFLPA

The headband had to be perfect. Braxton Miller was about to get the lights-camera-action treatment as part of the NFLPA photoshoot portion of his second day at the 22nd annual NFLPA Rookie Premiere. Decked out in full pads, cleats and uniform, Miller kept fiddling with the grey headband, flicking parts of his hair in order for everything to look just right. Finally, once it was in place perfectly, Miller took his iPhone and snapped a selfie.

For a player who has over 900,000 follows on three social media channels – Instagram, Twitter and Facebook – going behind the scenes at Rookie Premiere presented a perfect opportunity to bring himself to fans. He sat down with the NFLPA to talk about how his social media presence can translate into business and marketing opportunities as his career begins:

NFLPA: Now, learning what you’ve learned here, has it changed the way you think about your large presence on social media?

Miller: Absolutely. You get a big following like that, you can start using it for the business aspect of things. Marketing, being out there in the public, commercials or products that need to be sold that I fit. It’s a great thing. It’s a great platform to have.

NFLPA: Are you realizing that each channel or outlet you guys are involved in now, has greater significance than before?

Miller: When I tweet out that I’m going here or something like that, a whole bunch of people will follow. Companies can look at my feed and think of a product that might fit me and say, ‘Oh, he’s a perfect fit,’ because of the people who will retweet it. It’s something that I’m going to talk about with my marketing people, for sure.

NFLPA: Is it interesting to see how much of a reach you guys now have?

Miller: It’s crazy. When I was coming out of high school and going into college, I looked at the draft and how they prepared themselves for the next level. I see what they did and their ambitions and learned. I’m into fashion, too, so I can take advantage of those different types of things.

NFLPA: You went to a huge school at Ohio State, with a large fanbase. How much can that help you, especially as it relates to your social following?

Miller: It has a big following, Ohio State. I think a lot of the guys – me, Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa, Michael Thomas, Cardale Jones – have a big following for that reason. Plus, we made a lot of plays in college, which doesn’t hurt.