There is a certain kind of presence one has to possess in order to the starting quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. For the past 30+ years, Packers quarterbacks have been counted among the best in the NFL. As the leaders of the league’s most storied franchise, there are certain pressures and expectations that come with the job, and not everyone is built to bear them.
Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, of course, are Hall of Fame (or future Hall of Fame) players that wrote their own legacies in Green Bay, leaving their mark on the Packers franchise and remain endeared to many fans even now.
Now, Jordan Love has picked up their mantle and is entering his third season as the team’s starting quarterback. And he has own story, one that is inspiring to those who know it.
And he shared that story in a recent post on the famed Players Tribune.
Green Bay Packers Quarterback Jordan Love Opens Up on Losing Father to Suicide, Credits Mom for His Success
The Players Tribune is an online publication that features articles and stories written by professional athletes themselves. Often, these players, both current and former, share stories from their lives and offer fans a rare glimpse into their lives.
Love did so in an article he wrote that was published today. In it, he, once again, praised his predecessor, Rodgers, for how he treated him when he was first drafted by the Packers.
But the majority of the post was a tribute to his parents, both his mom and dad. As many fans are aware, Love’s father committed suicide due a depression caused by medication he had been prescribed. The loss caused the 14-year-old Love to nearly abandon football, but his mother convinced to continue going:
“Everyone always says that cliché, ‘He was the last person you ever would have thought…..’
“But my dad……. Yeah, he was really the last person.
“He hadn’t been his normal self for a while. He was hiding all that stuff from us kids, but the medication that he was taking for his blood pressure had really changed him. They couldn’t figure out what was going on, and he was really suffering. My mom called it a ‘medical demon,’ and that’s the only way you could ever explain it. My dad was such a happy, positive, giving dude….. The light in every room.
“Then the light went out.”
Now that he is in the NFL, much of Love’s charitable work is targeted at law enforcement and their families so that they can have the support he wishes his father would have had.
But as hard as losing his father was, Love’s mother knew he needed football to get through it:
“Going into that sophomore year, my mom was driving me to practice, and when we got there, I didn’t want to get out of the car. I told her, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. Maybe I’ll quit and focus on basketball.’
“And it’s funny because it’s never like the movies, you know? My mom was not doing movie dialogue. It was just mom dialogue.
“’That doesn’t make any logical sense to me, Jordan.’
“’Why? I’m the backup. Who cares?’
“’No, this doesn’t make sense. You love football.’
“‘Mom, I don’t play.’
“She saw right through me. She saw how much I was hurting. I just wasn’t in my right mind. So she made a deal with me.
“She said, ‘Just give it one more year. If you don’t love it at the end of this year, and you want to stop, then we’ll stop.’
“I couldn’t say no to my mom.”
What is more, Love’s mom promised him that she would be there at every single one of his games, just like his dad had been.
When he was a backup quarterback, not playing, at Utah State, she was there, flying all over the country to be there. When he was backing up Rodgers in Green Bay, she was there.
And when he got called upon to make his first career start in 2021 when Rodgers tested positive for COVID, she was there.
He ended his emotional post with the following:
“So, Mom …… Dad ….. My whole family …..
“And every single person who has had my back since I was 14 years old …. Everybody who made a little comment to me that kept me believing …
“Everybody who made this dream possible …..
“You already know.
“Rain, sleet or snow. I know you got my back. I’ll be looking for you.
“See you up there.”
More Green Bay Packers News from Wisconsin Sports Heroics
- Packers QB Jordan Love Has “Fiery” Response to Wife’s on Franchise’s Timeless Tradition
- Brett Favre Releases Emotional Statement as Sterling Sharpe Gets Inducted into Hall of Fame
- Packers WR Christian Watson Reveals Mindset Amid ACL Recovery
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