Exclusive: Jeremiyah Love drops $53 million truth bomb on haters after Cardinals’ controversial No. 3 pick

Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love hasn’t played a snap yet, but he’s already made NFL history. The 20-year-old — he’ll turn 21 years old by the end of May — inked a record-setting deal with the Cardinals that will see the rookie get paid a guaranteed $53 million on his four-year deal. That mark breaks the record set by the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley when he signed a $36 million guaranteed deal.

Love was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after a prolific career at Notre Dame. He finished as a Heisman Trophy finalist during his final year after rushing for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns.

When asked about signing the record-setting deal, Love downplayed the distinction, saying he is only getting paid as much as he is because of his draft position.

“I try not to think (about it), because at the end of the day, the only reason I’m getting that amount of money is because I was a third pick in the draft,” said Love in a one-on-one interview. “Anybody would get that amount of money if you’re that high of a draft pick, so I don’t really think of it like that, nor do I really care, honestly. But then it is just money. I’m here to play football, which I’ll do, and the money will take care of itself. I’m probably not even gonna touch that money for real.”

While Love does downplay the distinction, he did earn the contract by emerging as the best running back in college football last season. It’s the reason why the Cardinals placed the trust in him to make him the No. 3 overall pick in the draft.

“It’s a huge honor being able to be paid that much,” said Love. “I put in a lot of work, and the people I’ve been surrounded by have helped me to get here. So, it’s definitely a huge honor, it’s a blessing. All glory to God. I’m only here because of him. But at the end of the day, man, football is my main priority, and the money — and the most guaranteed money, whatever it may be — I really don’t care about that because literally the only reason that I am in a position now is because I was the third pick in the draft. I just don’t think like that. It’s just money to me, and I’m just blessed with the opportunity to play football at the highest level.”

Love may not believe his contract is that big of a deal, but what is also notable is the fact that he signed the contract with a Sharpie S-Gel pen, the well-known marker company. The rookie running back has a collaboration with Sharpie and actually released his first comic book, Jeremonstar, through the partnership.

“Yeah, so pretty much I was named the Sharpie Rookie of the Year, it’s named that by Sharpie,” detailed Love. “I got to join a great team of just great individuals. I signed my, my contract with the Sharpie S-Gel pen. Want to do it with the best and decided to partner with Sharpie, because it’s just very authentic. I’ve been using Sharpie my whole life, so it made a lot of sense to just partner with them, and I’m glad that they reached out to me and wanted to partner with me.

“It was a very authentic relationship, and I just signed my contract with the Sharpie S-Gel pen,” Love continued. “Want to do it with the best, do it with the pen that doesn’t smear, there’s no bleed or anything like that. It’s a very authentic relationship that I have with them, and I just plan to continue to grow and just having a better relationship with them.”

The Cardinals running back is a big fan of anime comic books and names Batman as his favorite comic character.

“My favorite character would probably be Satoru Gojo from JJK, which is Jujutsu Kaizen,” said Love “That’s anime from comics, or just in the Marvel/DC universe, probably Batman. If I were to compare those universes, my favorite superhero would be Batman, for sure.”

The post Exclusive: Jeremiyah Love drops $53 million truth bomb on haters after Cardinals’ controversial No. 3 pick appeared first on ClutchPoints.