Anthony Miller figured his time was coming. He just didn't know when.
Now he's officially getting inducted into the Chargers Hall of Fame, an honor in which he feels nothing but gratitude.
"I cried a lot," Miller said. "It's exciting."
He later added: "This is where I had my best career."
The former receiver, who spent six of his 10 NFL seasons with the NFL on the Bolts, saw some of the highest points of his career with the franchise.
Miller was selected No. 15 overall in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Chargers and quickly ascended into one of the top targets on the team.
He finished his six years with the Bolts playing in 93 games and totaling 374 receptions for 5,582 and 37 touchdowns.
All those figures rank in the top 10 in franchise history.
"A lot of these guys in it I played with, from Junior [Seau] to Stan Humphries," Miller said. "I knew Rodney [Harrison], Gil Bird.
"A lot of the guys I played with are in it. And my coach that coached me, Charlie Joiner," Miller added. "That was exciting."
The receiver did it all from the jump, whether it was through the air or in the return game.
Miller posted three seasons of 1,000-plus receiving yards and racked up four Pro Bowls, including a 1989 season where he had 75 receptions for 1,252 yards and 10 touchdowns.
He also racked up over 1,200 kickoff return yards throughout his Chargers career, ranking in the top five in the NFL in yards per return twice, as well as scoring two return touchdowns.
From the moment he got to the Bolts, he became a dynamic threat on the squad, and some of his favorite memories in the powder blue reflect that.
The first came in his second year in the NFL, a Sunday night game against the Raiders.
Miller was able to propel the Bolts to a narrow victory after his 91-yard kickoff return touchdown scored the first points of the game for the team. They would go on to score another later in the game to give them the division win.
"I have a lot, but the one that sticks out is running back a 90-something-yard [return] to beat the Raiders," Miller said. "That was Sunday night. It was a memory I'll always remember."
His heroics became apparent throughout his Chargers tenure.
Miller scored the go-ahead touchdown in 1992 against the Browns, where he scored a 45-yard touchdown to give them the lead and kick off a seven-game win streak to close the season, another moment he noted as one of his favorites.
"Some of those are great memories," Miller said.
As he heads into the Chargers Hall of Fame, Miller reflected on what was an uncommon story to get to this point.
The receiver didn't play football until his senior year of high school but generated buzz after starring at Pasadena City College.
That ultimately led him to the University of Tennessee, where his ability through the air and in the return game led him to be a first-round draft pick.
"After my second year, I started being one of those elite receivers at that time," Miller said. "It's definitely exciting, everything moves at God's speed. So I look at it as, 'It took a minute, he finally got me in it.'"
Not to mention the opportunity from another Charger great once he entered the league.
Miller was drafted to the Bolts when Joiner, a Pro Football Hall of Famer, was the team's wide receiver coach. He spent the first four years of his career learning from one of the greats.
He gives Joiner and the experiences with him major credit for what he was able to accomplish and turn into in his 10-year NFL career.
"I had a guy, Charlie Joiner, that taught me how to be a pro," Miller said. "[He] taught me how to watch film, all the great traits you need to be a great receiver.
"I give a lot of credit to Charlie, he took my game to the next level," he added.
Now, Miller will join Joiner and the rest of the franchise greats in the Chargers Hall of Fame.
"I can come up, hang out with the guys and get the shirt that everyone gets in their Hall of Fame and something that's there for life," Miller added. "My kids, grandkids, everybody can see this. I'm very excited."
