Roy Miller still remembers the moment his name was called as a Fiesta Bowl MVP.

A senior on a stacked 2008 Texas Longhorns team, Miller had just finished one of the highlight games in his career. He played four quarters of disruptive defense, including a key third-quarter sack en route to a 24-21 Texas win.

"I played on a big team, with a lot of Pro Bowlers, a lot of guys that you know probably will be going to the Hall of Fame," Miller said. "I knew that day I had to go out there and perform at my highest. To gain that recognition of being called a Fiesta Bowl MVP, it really just sends chills down my spine."

After capping off his All-Big 12 season in the Fiesta Bowl, Miller was drafted to the NFL in the third round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. While he went on to play nine seasons of professional football, some of Miller's greatest successes in life would happen away from the stadium lights. 

They would come years later, back in his hometown of Killeen-Fort Hood, Texas.

"Killeen-Fort Hood is a military town," Miller said. "It almost felt like a ghost town, like people just moving constantly. The military community is a little bit like two trains passing in the night at times."

Looking to combat this instability, Miller co-founded the Accumulative Advantage Foundation and its youth-serving arm, the Kids Advantage, right in his hometown. The Foundation aims to create life-changing opportunities for military dependents and youth at risk or living in poverty-stricken communities. To accomplish this, Miller anchored the Foundation in free football camps, mentorship sessions and community engagement initiatives, partnering with former teammates to spur recognition and participation among local families. 

However, the focus isn't just on football.

"We talk about football," Miller said. "But…we use those aspects of the game to really teach these kids that you got to be persistent, you got to believe, and at any moment, anything can happen."

Miller's heart for service started long before he had a platform from playing professional football. Growing up, he remembers seeing blue and gold stars displayed at his high school, each one representing a local parent deployed overseas or one who didn't make it back. 

"I felt the pressure of so many people, so many kids that were just struggling not knowing if their parents would come back home from war," he said.

This perspective led Miller to a guiding principle behind his Foundation – that sports can have an impact beyond the field.

He recalls a specific conversation with a soldier who watched Miller and the 2005 Texas Longhorns take on Michigan from his station in Iraq. This soldier told Miller how he and a group of others stayed up all night watching the game, sharing that the intensity Texas brought to the field helped carry their unit all the way through to where they overtook Baghdad. 

"That just confirmed the mission we set out to do," said Miller. 

While Miller was certain of what he wanted to do, starting a nonprofit wasn't easy – especially in a military town, where people and sponsors changed constantly. 

In fact, Miller said the most significant obstacle he came across was advertising and getting the Foundation's message to stick with local families. He and his team spent thousands on free football camps to engage local youth and get their name into the community. 

It proved difficult at times, but football taught him how to keep going. 

"We had a 24-hour rule. Even if we had a bad game, you had 24 hours to soak in that. But after that, it's time to get up. It's time to get back to the plan," Miller said. "That persistence, that's what we do."

Looking back on a successful collegiate and NFL career, Miller said his life's most significant impact can't be measured by trophies.

"Just like the Fiesta Bowl game, I had no idea standing around a bunch of great men, great players, that my impact would be something people would talk about to this day," Miller said. "Now, when I talk to kids and they tell us how their lives have been changed by the services we've done…those are the most important trophies that we get to hold."