SPORTS

Work ethic pays off for Mangham native Miley

Adam Hunsucker
ahunsucker@thenewsstar.com

One could argue what Louisiana’s top export is, but football talent is on the list somewhere.

More NFL players come out of ‘The Boot’ per capita than any other state in the country, a stat where Northeast Louisiana holds its own. That sample increased following the 2015 NFL Draft when one of the region’s smallest communities but largest hotbeds for football watched a native son move on to the professional ranks.

Former Mangham Dragon defensive end Arthur Miley signed an unrestricted free agent deal Saturday night with the Carolina Panthers. The 6-6 rush specialist played collegiately for the Southern Jaguars.

Miley began hearing from teams wanting to sign him during the seventh round of the draft, and chose Carolina over the Philadelphia Eagles. The Panthers, Eagles, Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns and Seattle Seahawks all came calling for Miley’s services.

It wasn’t just a better offer that persuaded Miley to sign with the Carolina, but some SWAC connections with Panthers defensive line coach Eric Washington.

“He played at Grambling so he knew a little bit about the SWAC,” said Miley, who was first-team All-SWAC in 2014 with 59 tackles and seven sacks.

“We talked and I got a good feel of what they expected from me and what kind of opportunity I was getting. I’m not going to let anyone outwork me so if I can get in with the rest of the guys and pay attention hopefully I’ll have a good shot at making the team.”

Miley spent the months leading up to the draft working out in Arizona. A strong performance at the College Gridiron Showcase in Texas led to a visit with the Seahawks.

Mangham head coach Tommy Tharp remembers work ethic was never a problem with Miley. Tharp coached Miley his junior and senior year after taking over the Dragons in 2010.

He looked more like a basketball player when Tharp got him — not quite the 250 lb. nightmare off the edge that came later.

“At the time we had a team that was dominated by some larger than life personalities and Arthur was more quiet back then but he always led by example,” Tharp said. “He helped us do some things our first year that had as much to do with getting this program going as anything we’ve done.”

One of those moments was in Tharp’s first game as Mangham head coach — on the road at eventual state runner-up OCS. Miley played both ways the whole game, and despite being on the verge of passing out from dehydration, refused to come off the field.

Mangham beat OCS that night 35-24.

“He knew like I did we couldn’t win that game without him,” Tharp said. “We literally carried him back to the field and pumped him full of water and he said, ‘coach I’m ready to go.’”

Miley brought the same work ethic to the classroom and earned a football scholarship from Southern. The Jaguars won three Bayou Classics in-a-row against arch rival Grambling and the 2013 SWAC championship in his four years in Baton Rouge.

The 2014 Bayou Classic in particular produced one of Miley’s finest moments as a Jaguar. With Grambling on the Southern one-yard line and the game on the line in the final seconds, Miley reminded his coaches of something he noticed in film study.

Miley remembered Grambling liked to run the quarterback sneak on the goal line. Sure enough, the G-Men tried it. Southern got the stop, and the win.

Miley said his path to the NFL shows what anyone — even a skinny 6-6 kid from rural Richland Parish — can do if you maximize your opportunities.

“I want young players that feel like people from Mangham don’t get a chance to see you can go places if you’ve got the heart and are willing to work,” Miley said.

“It doesn’t matter where you play high school or college ball, if you’ve got talent, they’ll find you.”

Follow Adam on Twitter @adam_hunsucker