Notre Dame’s star running back Jeremiyah Love will find out if his remarkable season with the Irish will help him with college football’s most prestigious individual award at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City today.
Through 12 games this season, Love has accumulated roughly 1,372 rushing yards on 199 carries with 18 rushing touchdowns. He’s also added 280 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns, compiling over 1,650 yards, helping Notre Dame finish their 2025 college football campaign with a 10-2 overall record, narrowly missing the playoffs.
These numbers put him in Heisman contention alongside quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza of Indiana, Diego Pavia of Vanderbilt, and Julian Sayin of Ohio State.
His performances have also initiated potential NFL talks, with analysts projecting Love as a potential first-round pick whenever he declares for the draft.
Amidst all his recent accolades and success in college football, Love, growing up, faced some early struggles related to autism that a lot of football fans don’t know of.
Does Jeremiyah Love Have Autism?
Growing up in St. Louis, Missouri, Love’s parents noticed something different about their son as he struggled with social interactions and routine tasks.
Love came across as distant and cold, so much so that he was made out to not be a team player. His mother, L’Tyona, during a College GameDay feature back in September this year, revealed Love’s early struggles that had her worried deeply.
“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 None of that,” L’Tyona stated on the College GameDay feature (3:02).
“He would tell me ‘Ma, I don’t feel emotion.'”
Jeremiyah Love is a unique talent. But long before he stepped on a football field, Love and his parents knew he was different.@JenLada with more ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/n2l8jpHteE
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) September 27, 2025
When Jermiyah’s parents, Jason and L’Tyona Love, brought their concerns to Jeremiyah’s paediatrician, the doctor suggested their son might fall on the autism spectrum, as he appeared to exhibit characteristics of high-functioning autism.
“Jeremiyah was perceived, at times, to be standoffish, a loner, not a team player… We spoke with the pediatrician who had been seeing 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 further elaborated added (3:12).
Love’s parents, however, decided against getting a formal autism diagnosis as per the doctor’s advice, letting him be who he is, which, in retrospect, worked wonders for Jeremiyah on the field, given his college football success across seasons with Notre Dame.
Also Read:
- 2025 Heisman Trophy Finalists Statistical Comparison: H2H Comparison of Fernando Mendoza, Julian Sayin, Jeremiyah Love, and Diego Pavia
- Jeremiyah Love vs Derrick Henry Statistical Comparison: How Do Heisman Finalists’ Best Seasons Stack Up?
- “Jeremiyah Love Should Decline The Heisman”: Fans In Splits As Notre Dame Star Makes Final List For Prestigious Award
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