NEW YORK – Jeremiyah Love finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York City, tying for the best finish by a player from a St. Louis area high school.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy and Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia took second. Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin finished fourth.
“There’s definitely a chance I could come out of this disappointed,” Love said a few hours before the winner was announced. “I want to win the Heisman. I’ve put in a lot of work this season and I feel like that the plays that I’ve made this season are Heisman-worthy. Now I’m not going to necessarily be completely bummed out about it – like if I don’t win it’s OK. But some disappointment is going to come with it. I feel like that’s natural. I’m a competitor. I want to win in everything that I do and I want to be recognized for just some of the great things that I’ve done this season.”
“I’ve already been recognized by winning the Doak Walker Award but I feel like the Heisman Trophy is the highest and the best honor you could have in college football. If I am to win it, or if I’m not, I’ll be OK with it. But competitors are going to be disappointed if they don’t win. They are going to be a little down. I’m hoping for the best not only for myself but for (the other finalists) as well. I want their chances to win the Heisman to be high as well and I want to see them have some success as well.”
Love is just the second Heisman Trophy finalist from a St. Louis area high school, following Timberland High School product Montee Ball. Ball finished fourth in the voting in 2011 following a standout season at running back for the University of Wisconsin. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III won the Heisman Trophy that year.
Prior to 1982, only the Heisman winners were invited to the ceremony in New York.
Heisman Trophy winners Clinton Frank (Yale quarterback, 1937) and Billy Sims (Oklahoma running back, 1978) were both born in St. Louis – and are the only Heisman winners born in Missouri – but both attended high school elsewhere.
Frank attended high school in Evanston, Ill., and then a prep school after high school. Sims attended high school in Texas.
The highest Heisman Trophy finisher from a St. Louis area high school is believed to be Paul Christman from Maplewood-Richmond Heights, who finished third in the voting in 1939 and fifth in 1940.
Love was seeking to become the eighth Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Notre Dame, following Angelo Bartelli (1943), Johnny Lujack (1947), Leon Hart (1949), Johnny Lattner (1953), Paul Hornug (1956), John Huarte (1964) and Tim Brown (1987).
Brown, who won the Heisman nearly four decades ago, was in New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony and posed for a photo with Love earlier in the day Saturday.
Love is the sixth Heisman finalist from Notre Dame, since finalists were invited to NYC beginning in 1982, and he is the first since linebacker Manti Te’o in 2012. He joins Te’o, Brady Quinn (2006), Raghib Ismail (1990), Tony Rice (1989) and Tim Brown (1987) as finalists from the Fighting Irish.
“I’m excited,” Love said during Friday’s media availability in New York. “I feel like it’s a great honor. At the end of the day I feel like I’m only here because of my team. So I’ve very happy to be able to represent the University of Notre Dame and the 2025 Notre Dame football team. I’m just happy to be here. It’s a great honor to represent them guys. I know they are all wishing me the best.”