In the days before his Ford Bronco drifted into the path of an oncoming semi-truck, Matt Miller was settling debts.Miller, 43, has worked for ESPN since 2021, becoming a key figure in the network’s NFL Draft coverage. A self-described “bad” high school football player from Liberal, Mo., he had landed one of the most coveted jobs in sports media, cultivating a brand that included a range of charitable endeavors: coat drives for children in need, scholarships for students of color, and supplies for teachers. He was, as one friend called him, a “local hero.”But over the past two months, that image of Miller began to crack. Dozens of social media posts accused him of stiffing the winners of fantasy football leagues he ran, leagues he billed as benefiting charities. Commenters also questioned the legitimacy of the charity fundraisers he routinely held. The public outcry prompted an investigation by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, which has received more than two dozen complaints.Miller hosted 91 fantasy football leagues in 2025 on Sleeper, a fantasy sports platform, according to various league manager search tools. Based on the standard entry fee and league size, that would have given Miller access to around $100,000 in entry fees for the 2025 season. In an email to The Athletic on Thursday, Miller said that number did “not seem accurate,” but he couldn’t verify because he does not have access to his Sleeper account. In the same email, Miller said due to the active investigation, his attorney advised him to limit his responses, but said “anyone with a legitimate claim to winnings should please contact me immediately.”Sleeper banned Miller on May 7 for “stealing buy-ins from managers and not paying out league winners,” according to messages Sleeper’s customer support sent to The Athletic. The Athletic spoke with a dozen people who said Miller failed to deliver on his promises, dating from 2017. Nine said league members received money they were owed only after badgering him directly, including threatening to expose him publicly or report him to his employer, and even then, some received only partial winnings.“He’s offered zero proof that any of (the money collected from the leagues) has gone to charity,” said a member of one of Miller’s 2025 leagues who filed a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. The person requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation.Miller declined to provide documentation of donations or comment about whether all of the money he said would go to charity made its way there.After complaints reached ESPN directly, and as public criticism amplified in May and June, Miller began paying people back. Then, on June 17, just before 4 p.m., Miller drifted over the double yellow dividing line of two-lane Missouri Route 96 and smashed into a semi-truck. The force of the crash sheared the seatbelt Miller was wearing, and he was thrown from the vehicle. He was airlifted to the hospital, where he underwent life-saving operations that he said included the amputation of his left arm.On June 25, Miller’s X account shared a link to a GoFundMe page to raise money for his recovery, and the responses included both wishes for a speedy return to health — and suggestions that it was his latest ruse. The GoFundMe campaign exceeded $51,000 from hundreds of donations before Miller’s family paused it July 3. In his email, Miller said the funds likely would be used to help cover a prosthetic, as well as provide his parents and girlfriend financial relief while they help care for him during his lengthy recovery.The Missouri Attorney General’s Office launched its investigation into Miller’s charity activity on July 2. By Wednesday of this week, the attorney general’s office said it had received 26 complaints regarding Miller. Those complaints were made by people who had paid for camps and participated in fantasy football leagues where no product or minimal product was delivered, according to the attorney general’s office. Miller’s GoFundMe is not part of the investigation, the office said.“We need consumers who believe that they may have been misled or defrauded by this charity or any other charity to contact our office with information,” said Colbey Stosberg, a spokesperson for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.In a statement, ESPN said, “As he announced, Matt is on a mutually agreed-upon leave.” The company is aware of the allegations against him, including the Missouri attorney general’s investigation, and plans to address them with Miller at an appropriate time, according to a person at ESPN who was not authorized to speak publicly.“Because this is an active investigation, I’ve been told by legal counsel to limit my response,” Miller said in an email. “However, I’ve tried reaching out to all the winners from the last season to make sure they’ve been paid. My [direct messages] on all social media remain open for winners to contact me. Because of my limited access to my original email account, I have had trouble authenticating winners, but everyone who finished in first, second or third place will be paid out and I’ve worked hard to make that happen.”While recovering from his accident, as allegations and speculation swirl around him, Miller shared medical updates on social media, including an X post on June 29, his birthday. “Excited to see what the hardest year of life brings,” Miller wrote.Miller was a regular presence during ESPN’s coverage of the latter rounds of the NFL Draft. Aaron M. Sprecher / Associated PressFor more than a decade, Miller steadily ascended in the niche world of NFL Draft media. He wrote for Bleacher Report from 2010 through 2021, building an extensive social media following under the handle NFLDraftScout. ESPN hired Miller as a contributor in 2021, praising his charitable work for children in Southwest Missouri, according to a news release at the time. He became a year-round draft analyst the next year. Miller served as a live panelist during the latter rounds of the draft starting in 2023. The company announced in March 2025 it re-signed Miller to a multi-year contract.Since 2017, Miller’s posts about players and prospects, primarily on X, have been increasingly interspersed with calls for followers to donate to charitable campaigns. Those have included online scouting classes and golf tournaments, auctions to buy coats for kids and raffles through his foundation in which a donor is said to be entered to win merchandise, such as a copy of the Madden video game, a signed Patrick Mahomes jersey or a PS5. In many of the posts, Miller directed payments to a mixture of PayPal, Venmo and Cash App accounts that were either personal or named for one of his charities, as opposed to a centralized donation page.Miller also advertised a charitable component of his fantasy football leagues, telling members that their buy-ins benefited a particular foundation. Over the years, he primarily promoted two organizations: the 417 Foundation, which Miller said he created to provide clothes and food to children in need around Southwest Missouri, and the 15 Percent Foundation, created by Miller’s mother to feed people in the Liberal, Mo., area facing food insecurity.In 2020, Miller solicited donations to the 417 Foundation for scholarships he said would be awarded to students of color in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. According to a write-up in the student newspaper at Missouri State University, Miller said he kicked in $5,000, and after posting on social media, he received enough donations to offer 25 scholarships for $1,000 each.A Missouri State professor who showed interest in the scholarship program in 2020 said she had forgotten about the program and was not certain if any of her students applied. The Athletic could not find any record online of students who received a scholarship.