Josh Love
Joshua Michael Love (born September 12, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for San Jose State. He also played for the Los Angeles Rams and Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL) and the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL.
Love with San Jose State in 2019 | |||||||||||||
| No. 12 – Michigan Panthers | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | September 12, 1996 Mission Viejo, California, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1.2 in (1.86 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 208 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Long Beach Polytechnic (Long Beach, California) | ||||||||||||
| College: | San Jose State (2015–2019) | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career USFL statistics as of Week 1, 2023 | |||||||||||||
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Early life and high school
Love grew up in Mission Viejo, California, and initially attended Tesoro High School before transferring to Long Beach Polytechnic High School after his sophomore year. He shared snaps at quarterback during his junior year but finished the season with 17 touchdown passes to just two interceptions.[1] As a senior, Love passed for 3,199 yards and 41 touchdowns as he led the Jackrabbits to an 11–2 record and was named the Moore League Offensive Player of the Year.[2][3] Love was lightly recruited coming out of high school and committed to play college football at San Jose State University as a preferred walk-on.[4]
College career
Love walked-on to the San Jose State Spartans football team and redshirted his true freshman season and was awarded a scholarship at the end of the year.[1] He played in all 12 of SJSU's games the following season, serving as the holder on the field goal unit and throwing passes in five games with one start, completing 31 of 60 passes for 392 yards with two touchdowns and five interceptions.[5] As a redshirt sophomore Love played in nine games with five starts, completing 54.1% of his passes for 928 yards and five touchdowns with seven interceptions.[6] He became the Spartans' starting quarterback early during his redshirt junior season and finished the year with 1,963 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 56.1% of his passes.[7] Love started all of SJSU's games as a senior and was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Week after completing 32 of 49 passes for 402 yards and two touchdowns in a 31–24 upset win over Arkansas.[8] He finished the season with for 3,923 passing yards and 22 touchdowns with a 60.9% completion percentage and was named first-team All-Mountain West Conference and was the first Spartan to be named the conference Offensive Player of the Year since San Jose State joined the conference.[9][10] Love finished his collegiate career with the third most passing yards in school history with 7,206 yards and seventh all-time with 43 touchdown passes.[11]
College statistics
| San Jose State Spartans | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | GP | Passing | ||||||||||||
| Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rtg | |||||||||
| 2015 | San Jose State | 0 | Redshirt | ||||||||||||
| 2016 | San Jose State | 12 | 31 | 60 | 51.7 | 392 | 2 | 5 | 100.9 | ||||||
| 2017 | San Jose State | 9 | 92 | 170 | 54.1 | 928 | 5 | 7 | 101.4 | ||||||
| 2018 | San Jose State | 8 | 162 | 289 | 56.1 | 1,963 | 14 | 9 | 122.9 | ||||||
| 2019 | San Jose State | 12 | 293 | 481 | 60.9 | 3,923 | 22 | 8 | 141.2 | ||||||
| Career | 41 | 578 | 1,000 | 57.8 | 7,206 | 43 | 29 | 126.7 | |||||||
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0+3⁄8 in (1.84 m) | 203 lb (92 kg) | 30+1⁄2 in (0.77 m) | 8+3⁄4 in (0.22 m) | |||||||||
| All values from Pro Day[12] | ||||||||||||
Los Angeles Rams
Love signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent on April 25, 2020, shortly after the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft.[13] He was waived on August 25, 2020.[14]
Carolina Panthers
Love was signed to the Carolina Panthers practice squad on November 2, 2021.[15] He was released on November 9.[16]
Pittsburgh Maulers
Love was drafted in the 12th round of the 2022 USFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League (USFL).[17] He was released on May 10, 2022.
Michigan Panthers
On May 10, 2022, Love was claimed off waivers by the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL).[18]
In the first game of the 2023 Michigan Panthers season, Love set the USFL record for highest completion percentage, with 90 percent of his passes having been completed.[19]
Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2022 | PIT | 3 | 3 | 40 | 73 | 54.8 | 440 | 6.0 | 2 | 2 | 70.6 | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 0 |
| MICH | 4 | 2 | 30 | 58 | 50.8 | 347 | 5.9 | 2 | 2 | 67.2 | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | MICH | 3 | 3 | 48 | 81 | 59.3 | 490 | 6.0 | 4 | 3 | 77.7 | 9 | 11 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Career | 8 | 6 | 88 | 151 | 58.3 | 1,002 | 6.6 | 7 | 4 | 82.7 | 11 | 32 | 2.9 | 0 | |
References
- ^ a b Lombardi, David (August 22, 2019). "In a career full of challenges, QB Josh Love is ready to helm San Jose State's turnaround bid". The Athletic. from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "UNLV faces a survivor in San Jose State QB Josh Love". Las Vegas Review-Journal. October 25, 2018. from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Football: Lobos' Tuioti, Spartans' Love have a close bond". Albuquerque Journal. October 2, 2019. from the original on October 4, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "San Jose State gets commitment from Long Beach Poly QB". East Bay Times. February 23, 2015. from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Tucker, Cody (July 23, 2019). "SJSU's Josh Love thought he might be the Pokes next QB … they chose another guy instead". 7220sports.com. from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Quarterback has Love for leadership". from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Takeaways: Josh Love, defense guide San Jose State to third straight win". The Mercury News. October 4, 2019. from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "San Jose State rolls into Arkansas, stuns Razorbacks". The Mercury News. September 21, 2019. from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "San Jose State's Love named Mountain West Offensive Player". The Mercury News. December 4, 2019. from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Ringolsby, Tracy (December 4, 2019). "QB Josh Love 1st San Jose Spartan to Earn MW Offensive Player of the Year Honors". SI.com. from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Hellman, Sam (February 3, 2020). "PFF ranks top 10 quarterback prospects in NFL Draft". 247Sports.com. from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ "Josh Love, San Jose State, QB, 2020 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
- ^ "Josh Love: Signing with Rams". CBSSports.com. RotoWire. April 25, 2020. from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
- ^ "Rams waive QB Josh Love, sign two linebackers". Rams Wire. August 25, 2020. from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
- ^ Simmons, Myles (November 2, 2021). "Panthers signing Josh Love to practice squad". Profootballtalk.com. NBC Sports. from the original on November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
- ^ "Josh Love: Released from practice squad". CBSSports.com. RotoWire. November 9, 2021. from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ "USFL draft: Meet the Pittsburgh Maulers' inaugural class". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 23, 2022. from the original on February 23, 2022. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
- ^ @USFLPanthers (May 10, 2022). "Roster Update" (Tweet). Retrieved May 10, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ "JOSH LOVE'S SIZZLING OUTING HELPS PANTHERS OVERCOME MISCUES IN OPENING WIN". theusfl.com. April 16, 2023. from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
External links
- Los Angeles Rams bio
- San Jose State Spartans bio