Former Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love made history last week when he signed a four-year, $53 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals.
The deal includes the most guaranteed money ever given to an NFL running back, while Love’s $13.25 million annual average ranks seventh among all backs in the league.
Love understands exactly how much Arizona invested in him, and he’s embracing the pressure that comes with being the No. 3 overall pick.
“They picked the running back as a third pick in the NFL draft, which hasn't happened for a long time,” Love told reporters. “With great power comes great responsibility. I'm gonna make sure that I do right by them and do right by myself because at the end of the day, I want to do the best that I can. I hold myself to a certain standard.
“I'm coming into this league ready to compete, ready to dominate and do what I gotta do to make this organization look good and make myself look good.”
Only hours after signing his historic deal, Love was already on the practice field participating in rookie minicamp, which was something he had been eagerly anticipating.
“It was great getting my cleats on the field, getting some nice work in, getting to see how everybody moves, how the coaches operate, getting to see how Coach (Matt) Merritt operates,” stated Love. “I feel like this is my new home, so I'm just getting acclimated, getting to know the guys, getting to know the field, getting to know the coaches more.”
The expectations surrounding Love are massive, not only because of the contract but also because the Cardinals hope they drafted the future face of the franchise.
Love isn’t trying to force himself into a leadership role overnight. He believes leading naturally has always been part of who he is.
“I would say I have a responsibility to just be myself and me being myself is me being a leader through my actions,” explained Love. “That's what I do. I don't really think too deep about it because at the end of the day, I made it this far. We all have, all the rookies, all the people that signed. Everybody has a duty to be themselves and just being yourself is being the best athlete you can, and that's how you just lead, that's how I lead.”
Now that the draft process is over, Love is now taking on an important phase of his development in learning a new playbook.
Love isn’t stressing, as there is great confidence he’ll be able to pick things up quickly, as Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock prepared him well to handle NFL schemes.
“I feel like football knowledge is universal, no matter what team you go to. I went to Notre Dame and I was blessed to be coached by Denbrock. He had a great offense, so a lot of the rules and verbiage are the same as they are now, just different wording.
“It's pretty easy for me, but as a player, I feel like if you weren't in an environment where people were really teaching you about actual football, it would probably be pretty hard. I was blessed with great coaches, and I went to Notre Dame – just a great school in general, had great people around me that taught me about the game and just made this process for me way easier.”
It would have been easy to celebrate the draft, but Love took an aggressive travel schedule to get back to Notre Dame for the spring game to show appreciation to those who helped him get to the NFL.
Love was drafted on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, arrived in Arizona on Friday for a press conference and was back in South Bend on Saturday.
“I created my name at Notre Dame, that was my first home and that's where the first people believed in me,” explained Love. “Coach (Marcus) Freeman, Coach (Deland) McCullough, Coach Ja’Juan (Seider), Coach (Mike) Denbrock, those guys were the first to see the potential in me, develop me, trust in me, and give me a shot to be myself.
“I wanted people to know Notre Dame is gonna be my home forever. That was the place where I made the name Jeremiyah Love. I wanted to go back and make sure they knew that, and then also just make sure that everybody who helped me get here knew that I appreciated them, and I came back to pay my dues.
As for the contract, Love knows there is a responsibility on and off that comes with gaining generational wealth overnight.
Love insists his focus remains exactly where it has always been and that’s making plays on the field.
“I still haven't done anything at the end of the day,” Love said. “I'm ready to work, ready to earn the things that I've been given. It's very life-changing. My family gonna benefit a lot from it. I'm gonna benefit a lot from it, but honestly, I'm not really too much worried about that cuz I'm not gonna touch the money. I'm probably just gonna put it all away and live normally like I've been doing now.
“So very life-changing for my family. I'm gonna help them out, take care of them. As far as me, I'm not worried about it. I'm here to play football. We get paid a lot to do it, but at the end of the day, I still gotta perform on the field.”
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