Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller proudly exercised his right to vote for the first time for the 2020 election, he told New Jersey Senator Cory Booker in an Instagram Live conversation on Monday night.

Miller spoke about his newfound focus on activism, like so many other prominent athletes in recent years. He cited the influence of athletes of the past who fought against injustice:

“The time is now,” Miller said. “We’ve been fighting the same [social justice] fight that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muhammed Ali, all these other athletes fought. We just got to keep it going. [Professional athletes] can’t get tired with the process; we’ve got to keep pushing, keep using our platform, keep speaking on what’s right, and we have to all do it together.”

Abdul-Jabbar, as Lew Alcindor, joined Bill Russell, Jim Brown, and other Black athletes and activists to back Ali's protest of the Vietnam War at the Cleveland Summit in June 1967.

Miller told Booker that he voted about three weeks ago. He also pushed his Broncos teammates to vote:

“I’ve been on the guys. If anybody knows me, whenever I adopt any new mindset or way of thinking I always put that on my friends man. When I voted, to be honest, this was my first time voting,” said Miller. “I was excited about it and wanted to get all my friends and teammates to jump on the train.”

Miller said his most important issue is simply having a voice. He said he was inspired by a conversation with Broncos running backs coach Curtis Modkins:

“I just wanted to let my voice be heard. We’ve been fighting for the right to vote for years and years and one of my coaches, Coach Modkins, he sat down with us and we had a team meeting and we talked about how important it is to vote no matter who is on the ballot,” Miller said. “Our people have been fighting for years and years and years for this right. And, we owe it to them to go out there and vote. That really just struck me and that was really the wave that pushed me over the top to go out there and exercise my voice.”

Miller has been unable to make an impact on the field for the Broncos after suffering a season-ending ankle injury just prior to Week 1.

Booker prevailed in his reelection campaign in New Jersey.