Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love dominated Arkansas on Saturday with four touchdowns in the first half.
A potential first-round NFL draft pick, Love has impressed since last year when he eclipsed 1,000 yards, and this season has been no different. That said, Love’s personal struggle off the field came to light during an ESPN College GameDay feature before the game on Saturday.
Love learned in childhood that he had symptoms of autism after his parents addressed his issues, both social and executive functioning, with a doctor. His mother, L’Tyona, and father, Jason, talked with ESPN about his story.
“He would tell me, ‘Ma, I don’t feel emotion.’ It’s like he didn’t feel happiness, he didn’t feel grief, he didn’t feel any of that,” L’Tyona Love told ESPN. “I was like, ‘Ya, you do,’ but he was like, ‘No, I don’t.’”
“Jeremiyah was perceived, at times, to be standoffish, a loner, not a team player. We spoke with the pediatrician who had seen Jeremiyah since he was a baby, and he kind of leaned into that Jeremiyah could be on the spectrum, that he could be higher-functioning,” she added.
Love’s parents didn’t obtain an official diagnosis and decided to work with their son as he is. It didn’t show up on the football field as he became a high school star at Christian Brothers College High in St. Louis.
“The doctor advised us to just continue to let him be who he is, and learn how to adapt to it and encourage him,” Jason Love told ESPN. “Don’t try to change him, let him change the world.”
Jeremiyah Love Grew His Gridiron Career to South Bend
Jeremiyah Love helped his team win two consecutive state championships in 2021 and 2022 as Division I offers rolled in from Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas A&M, Michigan, and Oregon. Love won the Missouri Gatorade Player as a senior, amid 1,291 yards rushing and 22 touchdowns plus 13 receptions for 370 yards and five touchdowns.
At Notre Dame, Love played as a freshman in 2023 with 385 yards and a touchdown on 71 carries in 13 games. He also caught eight passes for 77 yards and a touchdown.
As a sophomore, Love emerged as the team’s main running back with 1,125 yards rushing and 17 touchdowns on 163 carries. He also grabbed 28 receptions for 237 yards and two touchdowns as he helped the Fighting Irish reach the national championship game.
Jeremiyah Love Looks to Make Irish History
This season, Love tallied 284 yards rushing and three touchdowns plus eight receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown in the first three games. Love only added to it on Saturday when he rushed for 57 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries and caught five passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns.
He helped the Irish stomp Arkansas 56-13 amid his team’s battle for a playoff spot with a 2-2 record. Love will look to help the Irish run the table to keep playoff hopes alive, and he can follow up his journey season by making additional Irish history.
If Love goes in the first round of the draft next year, he will be the first Irish running back chosen that high since Jerome Bettis in 1993 before his Hall of Fame career with the Los Angeles Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Notre Dame Star Jeremiyah Love’s Family Describes RB’s Personal Battle appeared first on Heavy Sports.