Weeks after losing his arm in a near-fatal car crash, ESPN NFL Draft analyst Matt Miller is now the subject of a consumer-protection investigation in Missouri, the state’s Attorney General Office has confirmed to The Daily Mail.
Miller, 43, has recently faced a number of online accusations published by Awful Announcing. In addition to allegedly failing to pay out winners from his charity fantasy football leagues, Miller is accused of ghosting individuals who paid him hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for football scouting lessons. Some of the allegations date back a decade, when Miller was still working for Bleacher Report.
The AG’s office did not comment on specific aspects of its investigation but did ask for people to come forward with information.
‘The Missouri Attorney General’s Office encourages consumers who believe they have been misled to contact us,’ the office wrote in a statement to USA Today. ‘Attorney General [Catherine] Hanaway takes consumer protection very seriously, and we will work diligently to uncover the facts.’
The Daily Mail has sought comment from Miller and the AG’s office. An ESPN spokesperson declined to speak with The Daily Mail on the subject.
Accusations against Miller began surfacing both before and after he revealed his June 17 crash and the horrifying extent of his injuries.
ESPN’s Matt Miller underwent a life-saving amputation on his left arm after a horrific crash
While a GoFundMe was launched to help Miller cover medical care, transportation, prosthetics and ‘countless unexpected expenses,’ according to organizers, an existing Reddit thread containing accusations against him began drawing attention.
For years, Miller has promoted charity fantasy football leagues on social media, with the idea that he would serve as the commissioner. Typically, half the entry fee was earmarked for charity, while the remainder of the money was intended for winners, according to Awful Announcing and Miller’s own social media posts.
Miller allegedly underpaid top finishers by simply returning their $100 buy-in, and sometimes failed to pay out winnings entirely. Awful Announcing further reported that Miller was accused of ghosting league members when these issues were brought to his attention.
‘I saw Matt post he needed another team for a league,’ one fantasy football participant told Awful Announcing. ‘I didn’t even know it was a charity league until he explained it to me. I love fantasy, so this seemed cool to do with a known person, although you couldn’t win much because half the pool was going to charity. Whatever. I was down.
‘Once I sent the Venmo, that was pretty much it,’ the player continued. ‘I am not sure half the teams in the league were real people. They were auto-drafts. Matt wasn’t involved at all. He had a team, but he clearly wasn’t managing it. He stopped returning DMs.
‘Everyone was confused. I won the league and kept messaging him about payment, but never heard back. I reported him to [fantasy site] Sleeper, who told me they had banned him for being a known scammer. That’s when I realized, “Oh, there are other people who are having this experience.”‘
The Daily Mail has sought comment from Sleeper.
For years, Miller has promoted charity fantasy football leagues on social media
Miller is also accused of offering pricy ‘scouting’ classes. Fans would pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a series of lessons from Miller, who allegedly failed to hold up his end of the deal.
‘It was so long ago, but I was graduating from college and thought, hey, maybe I could work in scouting?’ one person told Awful Announcing. ‘This guy has a career in media doing scouting, and he’s offering to mentor people. Yes, I had to pay for it, but it was for charity. I wanted to get my foot in the door and make a contact. I was excited.
‘We spoke on the phone for five minutes, and then when it came time for me to schedule my lessons, that just became a circular process of me sending emails and DMs, but nothing happened,’ the person continued. ‘I felt bad asking for the money back and just hoped he’d follow up at some point and do the right thing, but he never did. $500 was a lot for me back then.
‘I felt really dumb about the whole thing. I told my friends and family about it when I signed up. They would ask about it. I lied to some of them and said the lessons were good. I tried not to think about it because it made me so mad.’
It remains unclear if Miller made good on his charitable donations.
He did have a charity, the 417 Foundation, which was aimed at providing winter coats, clothes and school supplies to low-income families. However, that organization received a cease-and-desist letter from Missouri Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft’s office in 2019, as revealed by Awful Announcing.
Despite that letter, which neglected to detail any specific allegations against the charity, Miller announced in 2020 that the 417 Foundation would be giving scholarships to students of color in response to the notorious George Floyd murder in Minneapolis.
Miller personally claimed to have donated $5,000 himself.
The foundation stopped posting on Twitter in 2021, but he still promoted ‘417 Foundation Fantasy Football Leagues’ on his own account in 2022.
Miller’s Ford Bronco is said to have veered into oncoming traffic before the horrific crash
Miller suffered a number of fractures and has already undergone several surgeries
The accusations obviously come at a difficult time for Miller.
Following the June 17 crash, the draft analyst was airlifted to a Joplin, Missouri hospital with ‘significant injuries,’ including multiple fractures and broken ribs. The other driver, a 28-year-old man from Springfield, was not injured in the collision.
On June 25, he was scheduled for surgery on his shoulder, as he explained on X: ‘Today’s surgery is a big one. To find out if my shoulder can be reconstructed in order to support a prosthetic arm.’
‘Your continued thoughts and prayers are so appreciated,’ Miller added.
He initially shared details of his crash on June 21.
‘I’m deeply grateful for the exceptional care I have received, from the first responders to the doctors, nurses and medical staff. I’m incredibly fortunate to be writing this,’ Miller wrote on X.
‘As a result of the accident, I sustained significant injuries, including multiple fractures and broken ribs. I also underwent a life-saving amputation of my left arm.
‘While I have a long road ahead, I’m focused on my recovery and taking things one day at a time.’
Miller shared an update with his followers on his recovery journey on X last month
Miller, pictured with girlfriend Ashley, was airlifted to hospital with a number of serious injuries
After thanking people for their ‘overwhelming support’ in the wake of his accident, Miller added: ‘I look forward to continuing my recovery and getting back to ESPN to talk football, including what should be an exciting 2027 NFL Draft class.’
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe page was set up to help support Miller’s recovery journey and has since raised over $51,000 – including a $5,525 donation from ESPN’s Pat McAfee.
‘While the road to recovery will be long and challenging, his determination and positive spirit have never wavered,’ read a summary on the page. ‘In true Matt fashion, he’s already joking that he plans to become ‘the best one-armed bartender ever.’
The ‘one-armed bartender’ line is a reference to the cocktail bar he opened in Joplin last year.
