Jordan Love was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He served as the backup to veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers for three years. Then in the 2023 offseason, Rodgers was traded to the New York Jets and Jordan became the team’s starter.
Here are a few things you may not have known about the Packers signal caller including his ethnicity and the advice his mother gave him following a family tragedy which is the reason he still plays the game today.
Jordan Love’s parents and his background
Jordan Love was born in Bakersfield, California on Nov. 2, 1998, to parents Orbin and Anna Love. His father, who worked as a sergeant in the Bakersfield Police Department, was African-American. His mother, who worked for the California Highway Patrol, is white.
Love became interested in sports at an early age and his parents made every effort to make all of his games and cheer him on. Orbin taught his son the basics of the sports he played and even coached some of his teams. Then, when Love was 14 years old, tragedy struck.
A doctor changed Orbin’s blood pressure medication and he began exhibiting abnormal behavior. Anna said her husband would often get confused and on the morning of July 13, 2013, she found him standing over their bed staring at her.
“He gets this weird, goofy grin, almost like the Joker, and says, ‘I just wanted to say good morning,'” Anna recalled via NFL.com. “But it was just off. I told him he was acting strange and that he didn’t need to go to work.”
A short time later, Orbin died by suicide. He was 51 years old.
The advice Jordan Love’s mother gave him after that tragedy
Learning about his father’s death was one of the most difficult things Jordan Love ever experienced and at that point, he wanted to quit football.
“My darkest moment was definitely the day it happened, just hearing about it right there in the car,” he said. “I didn’t want to believe it.”
When Love told his mother he wanted to quit the sport, Anna convinced him to keep playing at least one more year (his 10th-grade junior varsity season) instead of making the final decision at such an emotional time. Love took her advice, stuck with it, and eventually became the starting quarterback for Liberty High School before enrolling in Utah State University.
When he declared for the NFL Draft in late 2019, Jordan Love posted a thank you message on X (then known as Twitter) that read: “I want to thank everyone who has helped me get to this point in my life, including my mom and my dad. Words cannot express how grateful I am for your love and continued support.”
How to get help: In the U.S., call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or 1-800-273-8255. Or text HOME to 741-741 to speak with a trained crisis counselor at the free Crisis Text Line.
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