“When I got drafted, I looked up the roster and went, ‘This is not good,'” Love laughed. “We used to have lockers right in the middle and I said, ‘This is death row. Everybody here is going to get cut.’
“And when I came in there before the (final) cuts, I go, ‘Oh, this is going to be an ugly day. Everybody’s getting cut right before the regular roster.’ Then I saw my name right next to Jackie Slater’s locker. It said, LOVE 67, and I knew I made it.”
Playing mostly on special teams, Love’s rookie season was bookended by spending time on injured reserve because of a recurring shoulder injury. He continued playing on special teams the following two years as well as seeing spot duty at both tackle positions, and starting four games at right guard in 1987 in place of Harrah after he was injured.
His mindset before taking over the position the next season for the retired Harrah was simple.
“I had to be ready,” Love said. “You never want to be embarrassed. I just learned the steps. It just took time.”
Love’s time with the Rams lasted seven seasons. A hard worker, he helped the team make the playoffs four times and reach the NFC Championship Game twice. Some of his fondest memories from those years, though, occurred before making a single block.
“When they introduced the offense, I loved that,” Love said. “You know, when they said, ‘Duval Love, in his third year or fourth year out of UCLA,’ it was kind of weird, but I just liked that stuff. It pumped me up. Plus, being a hometown guy, I knew people I played against saw me. It was kind of cool.”
While it would seemingly be cool to play in front of people from your old neighborhood and who you went to school with, Love discovered that being a “hometown guy” did have one disadvantage.
“With Coach (John) Robinson, when we went around to different cities, if you’re from that city, you got to be a captain. And I told him one day, ‘Coach, I’m here every day. I’m playing in my hometown every day. I never was a captain.’ He didn’t really say anything. He just looked at me and said, ‘Okay, Duval,'” Love laughed.
An unrestricted free agent in 1992, Love signed with Pittsburgh and spent three seasons with the Steelers, making the Pro Bowl in 1994, and two seasons with Arizona, before retiring in 1997.