Former USU QB Jordan Love Talks To NFL Teams About 2019 Interceptions, Overcoming Adversity

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Former Utah State quarterback Jordan Love isn’t shying away from discussing his interceptions from the 2019 season and other instances of adversity from his life during interviews with NFL teams in the pre-draft process.

Love is about two weeks away from finding out the next step in his football journey. The former Aggies QB is currently projected as a high-round draft pick and possibly a first-round selection.

In recent weeks, Love has interviewed with multiple NFL teams and hasn’t danced around questions about his FBS-high 17 interceptions from last season.

Here we go: @McShay13 bet @MelKiperESPN $5,000 that Jordan Love will go ahead of Justin Herbert in April’s draft; loser of the bet sends $5,000 to the @TheVFoundation. pic.twitter.com/Ix5dDnPFgt

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 28, 2020

Overcoming Interceptions

“It sounds terrible, to be at the interview for the job of a lifetime and presented with a sizzle reel of your worst moments, asked ‘What were you thinking?’ But Love says he welcomed it,” wrote ESPN’s Tim Keown.

“It gave me a chance to tell them what was going through my mind,” Love told Keown in March. “They’re not going to put your good plays out there; they want to see the bad ones and have you talk through it.”

Love doesn’t find joy in discussing his turnovers from 2019 and says the 0nly way to stop the questions is to stop throwing the picks.

“I threw 17 interceptions — obviously I’m going to have to talk about them,” said Love at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine. “It’s never fun, but if I don’t want to have to talk about it, I don’t have to throw 17 interceptions.”

Ed Orgeron loves Jordan Love. He believes Jordan is a first round NFL Draft pick and will play in the league for a long time. #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/mPh2uAF4Dl

— Jeremiah Jensen (@JJSportsBeat) October 2, 2019

Love doesn’t blame anyone else for the mistakes. Not the players around him. Not the coaches. Just himself.

After a subpar passing performance in a 36-10 win over Nevada in 2019, Love didn’t point fingers after many of his passes were dropped. Love completed 13 of his 31 pass attempts against the Wolf Pack but didn’t lose confidence in his arm or his receivers.

“Jordan (Love) is never going to be one to point any fingers anywhere,” said Utah State head coach Gary Andersen following the win over Nevada. “That’s not in his DNA, which is part of what makes him so special. I don’t think he does that in his own mind, I don’t think he does it in any way, shape or form. It puts a little bit of a different spin on things, and you don’t want it to hurt your confidence.”

“He always gives the same answer: ‘No, I just needed to play better. That’s me out there, No. 10, and I just threw the ball to the other team,'” said Steve Calhoun, a QB coach that’s worked with Love for eight years.

Overcoming Adversity In Life

“Walking straight toward the bright lights, maybe squinting a bit as he adjusts to the glare, is Utah State’s Jordan Love, the 21-year-old wild card of this year’s draft, the evaluators’ toughest test,” continued Keown. “He might be this year’s Patrick Mahomes; he might never start an NFL game. He might be taken in the first 10 picks of the draft (possibly joining three other quarterbacks: Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoaand Justin Herbert); he might — as he himself suggests — have to wait until the third round.”

Although Love doesn’t know where he will land in April’s draft, he’s prepared to overcome whatever adversity may face him in professional football.

Love’s faced adversity before and overcome it. He lost his father when he was only 14 years old.

“Teams asked me, ‘What adversity have you had to face outside football?'” Love said. “I end up talking about my dad a lot because of that, but it’s not something I use for sympathy. I’m not looking for any pity whatsoever. I’m just letting them know that I’ve gone through some things and I’ve been able to get through it with the help of a lot of people.”

After @USUFootball QB Jordan Love lost his father in high school, he almost quit football.

Today, he’s living out his father’s vision at the #NFLCombine. pic.twitter.com/RFz31hMudH

— NFL (@NFL) February 27, 2020

“Nothing in the NFL is going to bring him down,” said Calhoun. “If he throws three picks and loses? That’s nothing. He’s had to handle some unbelievable adversity, and he’s been able to come out the other side. What I believe is, nothing in the NFL can compare with what he’s experienced in life.”