{"id":873197,"date":"2026-04-24T01:42:58","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873197\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T01:42:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T01:42:58","slug":"who-are-running-back-jeremiyah-loves-parents-ltonya-and-jason-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873197\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are Running Back Jeremiyah Love\u2019s Parents L’Tonya and Jason Love?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Estimated5 min read<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah Love is expected to be one of the most closely watched players<\/a> when the 2026 NFL Draft begins this evening. The Notre Dame football star, 20, grew up in St. Louis, where he played football, basketball, and track at Christian Brothers College High School, and won the 2025 Doak Walker Award<\/a> as the nation\u2019s top running back.<\/p>\n

Running backs aren\u2019t normally drafted early<\/a>, but the betting market suggests Jeremiyah may be the exception. \u201cLove has been bet heavily in the third, fourth and fifth positions,\u201d Joey Feazel, lead football trader for Caesars Sportsbook, told ESPN<\/a>. \u201cBut both the draft betting market and news coming out of the league suggest Love is a special running back that may be the most talented in this draft.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his final college season last fall, Jeremiyah recorded 52 carries for 284 yards and three touchdowns in his final college season, adding eight receptions for 79 yards and a score. He finished third in the voting<\/a> for the 2025 Heisman Trophy Award.<\/p>\n

While always athletically gifted, Love has struggled with focusing his energy where it needs to be sometimes. Though he has never officially been diagnosed with ADHD or obsessive-compulsive disorders, Love and his parents, L\u2019Tonya and Jason, have been open about Jeremiyah\u2019s journey with neurodiversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a kid, when you\u2019d be ostracized or excluded\u2014it doesn\u2019t feel great,\u201d Jeremiyah told ESPN<\/a> in 2025. \u201cBut I\u2019m thankful I was that way. I never got into the wrong things, never hung out with the wrong people. The way I was protected me from that. My parents did, too. I\u2019m thankful for how I was raised and who I was as a person. It just goes to show, don\u2019t be afraid to be yourself, because that’s the best thing you can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SyracuseMichael Miller\/ISI Photos\/\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame Stadium in November.<\/p>\n

Below, get to know Jeremiyah Love\u2019s parents, L\u2019Tonya and Jason.<\/p>\n

Meet Jeremiyah\u2019s mom, L\u2019Tonya:\"IndividualYouTube\/ESPN<\/p>\n

L\u2019Tonya Love in the ESPN College GameDay interview.<\/p>\n

A former sergeant with the St. Louis Police Department, L\u2019Tonya has always remained closely attuned to her son\u2019s social development throughout his high school and college years. She even pushed him to attend high school prom, and threatened to accompany him herself if he didn\u2019t bring a date.<\/p>\n

However, both she and her husband had to work long hours while Jeremiyah was still in school, which created distance\u2014both physically and emotionally\u2013between them and their son. Jeremiyah wanted to see them more at his football games, and eventually he wrote a note asking him to be there more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was heartbreaking,\u201d L\u2019Tyona said last year<\/a>. \u201cI was ashamed, feeling like, hey, I had no idea that he felt like I wasn\u2019t there. So I decided to make more room for that. It\u2019s probably the most important letter I ever received.\u201d After that, L\u2019Tonya has been at almost every game. Even further, when Jeremiyah was in college at Notre Dame, she almost moved to South Bend to be closer to him, according to a profile about Jeremiyah in The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FamilyYouTube\/ESPN<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah with his parents when he was young.<\/p>\n

There was a reason for this. As described in the feature, Jeremiyah was a self-described introvert who requested a single room in student housing so he could \u201cretreat to his own space without apology.\u201d He had difficulty coming out of his shell and socializing with his teammates, but his parents still visited him at college as often as they could. \u201cThere was a time when we thought we\u2019d be taking care of Jeremiyah for the rest of our lives,\u201d L\u2019Tonya said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know if he was capable of showing emotional attachment. Jeremiyah was always kind of alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

L\u2019Tonya further spoke about her son\u2019s childhood on ESPN\u2019s College GameDay<\/a> ahead of a Notre Dame game in September 2025, describing the confusion and concern she felt as Jeremiyah struggled to articulate his feelings. \u201cHe would tell me, \u2018Ma, I don’t feel emotion,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like he didn\u2019t feel happiness, he didn\u2019t feel grief, he didn’t feel any of that. I was like, \u2018Ya, you do,\u2019 but he was like, \u2018No, I don\u2019t.\u2019 Jeremiyah was perceived, at times, to be standoffish, a loner, not a team player.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family eventually reached out to their family doctor. \u201cWe 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,\u201d L’Tonya explained.<\/p>\n

Meet Jeremiyah\u2019s dad, Jason:\"PersonYouTube\/ESPN<\/p>\n

Jason Love in the ESPN College GameDay interview.<\/p>\n

Jason, also a former St. Louis police officer and an Army veteran, has been coaching him since he was six years old. They also maintain a regular pregame ritual<\/a> in which Jeremiyah will look for his father in the stands for some words of affirmation before every game.<\/p>\n

Once Jason and L\u2019Tonya understood their son\u2019s triggers and motivations, they found a way to channel his energy rather than suppress it. The family chose not to pursue a formal diagnosis after the doctor\u2019s assessment. \u201cThe doctor advised us to just continue to let him be who he is, and learn how to adapt to it and encourage him,\u201d Jason told The South Bend Tribune<\/a>. \u201cDon\u2019t try to change him, let him change the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sports, therefore, became one place for Jeremiyah to manage his sensory output and behaviors. \u201cIf you challenge his competitive nature, he turns into a different creature,” Jason said. “He wants to dominate.”<\/p>\n

Away from football, Jeremiyah has been a lifelong devoted anime fan. \u201cI just fell in love with it,\u201d he told ESPN<\/a>. \u201cI stumbled upon it on Netflix when I was about 6. As a kid, I liked cartoons, and anime looks like cartoons but it’s not. I kept watching more and more, and I got addicted.\u201d Jason describes anime as a space where his son could inhabit a different world entirely: \u201cIt was his chance to be in a different place, a different world, where he can release all of his powers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two are now working on a comic book together, built around the idea of turning perceived limitations into strengths. \u201cThat\u2019s the whole point of the comic, of the message we’re trying to put out,\u201d Jason said. \u201cSometimes kids like Jeremiyah are labeled, but he reverses all those things\u2014all the doubters and cynics. That’s his superpower.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Rachel King (she\/her) is a news writer at\u00a0Town & Country. Before joining\u00a0T&C, she spent nearly a decade as an editor at\u00a0Fortune. Her work covering travel and lifestyle has appeared in\u00a0Forbes,\u00a0Observer,\u00a0Robb Report, Cruise Critic, and\u00a0Cool Hunting, among others. Originally from San Francisco, she lives in New York with her wife, their daughter, and a precocious labradoodle. Follow her on Instagram at\u00a0@rk.passport<\/a>.<\/p>\n