It's been five years since Braxton Miller announced his return to college football with a jaw-dropping spin move in Lane Stadium, but he still remembers it vividly.
On Monday – Labor Day, just like it was in 2015 – Miller joined Urban Meyer and BTN to recount the iconic play, revealing just how much it meant to him at the time, and even to this day.
"It was probably one of the best moments in my life."
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 7, 2020
5 years ago today, @OhioStateFB's @BraxtonMiller5 pulled off one of the most iconic spin moves of all time pic.twitter.com/W2f2xkPtr6
Miller acknowledges that in the scorebook it was, in a sense, just another touchdown – one of many he'd scored throughout his Buckeye career – but for someone who hadn't played a competitive snap in over 18 months and had just taken up an entirely new position just a few months prior, it was much more.
That play, and the others throughout the rest of the night, was proof to everyone watching that he was every bit as electric as he was before two shoulder surgeries.
"I think that was the first time I've opened up and cried in front of the whole group of men like that," Miller said of his reaction to the play. "I think I was just so determined to showcase my talent."
The play, Miller remembers, didn't even play out the way it was designed. Once he got the ball, he stretched it out much further than he was supposed to, then just got a little creative.
"I remember we were coming out of the huddle, and it was a sweep – it was an h-back sweep – but who knows what to expect, man," Miller said of the play.
"I was supposed to go to the C gap, and I went way out there to the Z gap," Miller recalled with a laugh. "I just turned it on, man. It was like a moment in my life that slowed down for me. Honestly, I did see those two guys coming and something just told me to spin."
And when he spun, he sent two defenders flying, and found nothing but green grass in front of him as he trotted toward the end zone.
Miller scored a record 88 touchdowns throughout his Buckeye career – 52 passing, 33 on the ground and three receiving – but he remembers that one as not only one of the best touchdowns of his career, but one of the best individual moments in his life.
"It was probably one of the best moments of my life, honestly," Miller said. "Without that, I don't know if I (would have) went as high as I did in the draft as a receiver or athlete."
