Perfect Fit

By: Brian Woodson-Bluefield Daily Telegraph

January 29, 2009

Few nicknames fit a city like the Steelers do for Pittsburgh. Few players fit in the Steel City as well as Heath Miller.

There’s no secret why. Just ask Doug Hubbard, Miller’s high school coach at Honaker.

“His personality would fit in right with them,” Hubbard said. “Go work hard, do your job and that’s it. His personality would fit right in with that city, and they just absolutely have embraced him and love him.”

No where is that feeling felt more than in Honaker. A lifelong resident of Swords Creek, a small community about five miles from the Tigers’ Fuller Field, Miller simply does what most Steelers’ fans do. Go to work.

“I think Steelers fans are working people-type fans,” Honaker principal Tony Bush said. “There are down to earth, dirt, sweat, the whole bit, they’re the type of people around here, that’s one reason they like the Steelers.

“They are the type of fans that are blue-collar. I’ve been a Steelers fan for a long time and I’m more of a Steelers fan now ever since Heath started playing for them.”

Miller is currently in his fourth season as a tight end for the Steelers. He’s a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, and he’s much the same in his hometown.

“He brings a lot of pride to the community, everybody is so happy for him and proud of him,” Honaker athletic director Trevor Coleman said. “You can tell by driving through town that everybody is tickled about it.

“The Steeler fan population in Honaker is a lot bigger than it used to be.”

Since entering the NFL, the soft-spoken Miller has become one of the best at his position in the game, right up there with Dallas’s Jason Witten and Dallas Clark of the Colts.

Just don’t ask Miller to tell you that. Terrell Owens, he is not. That’s not a bad thing.

“If he was more out-spoken or flamboyant, but if his play can’t get it, he’s not going to use those type of actions to get the recognition,” Hubbard said. “You look at Heath and Witten and Clark and you’re looking at three highly similar individuals, extremely good football players. Heath might be one of the best at his position, period.”

Hubbard has seen much of Miller’s career, from his brilliant three-year tenure at Honaker — leading the Tigers to a 32-6 record, two Region D titles and an appearance in the Division 2 state title game — to a record-setting career at Virginia. He caught 144 passes and scored 30 touchdowns for the Cavaliers, and won the Mackey Award before leaving school after his junior season for the NFL.

Since joining the Steelers, Miller has caught 168 passes and scored 21 touchdowns. Still, Hubbard’s favorite play by Miller came on a block in the AFC championship game win over the Ravens two weeks ago.

The 6-foot-5, 256 pound Miller has caught six passes for 99 yards and a touchdown in two playoff games this season, but like any coach, Hubbard enjoyed seeing him make not one, but two blocks on the same play, and they were more than 50 yards apart.

“I don’t know of many tight ends that will make a block on pass protection and then goes down field 65 yards to make another block for a teammate to get in the end zone,” Hubbard said. “I thought that was probably as special of a play as I’ve seen him make in pro football or any football.”

Hubbard said that play, which saw Miller make a block in the backfield and then hustle downfield to make another block to enable Santonio Holmes to score on a 65-yard catch and run, exemplified his work ethic and desire.

“When Holmes caught the ball and started across the field, (Heath) sprinted 65 yards down the field and Holmes used his block,” Hubbard said. “He made the block that allowed Holmes to go on into the end zone because that kid had a chance to make a tackle on him.

“I think you take that one play and you say how does Heath Miller play or how does he work, that’s what he does. That one play can say 100 words about his work ethic, his team play.

“I think that one play there sums him up as well as anything I have seen.”

Word spreads fast in a small town. When Coleman first arrived at Honaker, he heard about an youngster that was especially talented on the gridiron, hardwood or diamond.

“I remember everybody talking about this eighth grader that was going to be a great ballplayer,” Coleman said. “When I saw him I realized he was going to be a good ball player at the high school level.

“I guess I just never realized how far he would go. At that time I probably couldn’t have imagined that he could do so well.”

Hubbard, who has coached at Honaker for 27 years, could tell there was something special about Miller.

“When you’re looking at it as a coach, you look at work ethic, attitude and all those type things, as well as athletic ability,” said Hubbard, who credits much of Miller’s development to his parents, Honaker residents Earl and Denise Miller. “You felt like if you had one that had the opportunity that he was one of the ones because he had the whole package.”

Bush, in his 11th year at Honaker, saw the same attributes in Miller. He still does and he often uses Miller’s example when relating to students.

“I knew Heath would be successful in whatever he did. Even if he had never played sports ever he would have been successful at whatever he did because of the type of person he is,” Bush said. “He’s a better person than he is an athlete.

“I always use Heath as an example, not because he went to the NFL and has been successful, it’s because of his morals and his ethics and what type of person that he is. He’s just somebody that other people look up to.

“He was an exemplary student, somebody I would like for my other students to be like, a role model, He’s a positive role model for everyone.”

From 1998-2000, Miller was a quarterback and a hard-hitting safety for the Tigers. He finished his career by throwing for 4,410 yards and 54 touchdowns, and also ran the ball for 1,701 yards and 22 more scores. He led the Tigers to the Division 2 state title game in 2000.

Miller has joined other area stars in the NFL, including Graham’s Ahmad Bradshaw (Giants), Witten from Elizabethton, Tenn., (Cowboys), and the Big Stone Gap, Va., tailback brother duo of Thomas (Jets) and Julius (Seahawks) Jones.

“There’s some great ambassadors for this area,” Hubbard said. “Heath has brought great recognition to our high school, to this community and to our football program.

“With that, you get the good and the bad with that, but with Heath, it has just all been really good. I’m sure those people at Graham feel the same way about Ahmad.”

Miller was also a star on the diamond, called by long-time Honaker coach Tom Harding as the best high school player he has ever seen. Coleman still remembers Miller for his actions away from athletics.

“My memories of him are of what a nice kid he was, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say a harsh word about him,” Coleman said. “I had him in class, I had him on the JV basketball team and I can’t remember him having a harsh word toward anybody else and he was just always such a nice kid and cordial and mannerly. If anybody deserves this, he does.”

Despite his almost cerebral personality, Miller has thrived in what is an aggressive, violent sport.

“I know he loves football and he always did, that may have been the one release for him, the one escape for his aggression,” Coleman said. “Growing up myself playing football I know you don’t have to be a violent guy to play a violent game so maybe that’s what it is.

“He’s always just been such a good football player.”