- NFL
Arizona Cardinals rookie Jeremiyah Love on his love for anime and the life lessons he’s taken away from the art form.
by RJ OchoaJun 9, 2026, 8:56 PM UTC
Apr 24, 2026; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Arizona Cardinals first-round draft pick Jeremiyah Love talks to media during a press conference at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Anna Carrington-Imagn Images Anna Carrington-Imagn ImagesMy son is 4 years old. He is just now getting into so many things. It is incredible to share stuff like Super Mario or Ninja Turtles with him. I am truly so blessed.
There are a lot of things for kids to be into obviously, and while anime is one of them (in no way saying it is purely for kids here) it was never something that I got into myself.
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 23: Jeremiyah Love of Notre Dame poses for a photo after being selected third overall by the Arizona Cardinals during Round One of the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium on April 23, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lauren Leigh Bacho/Getty Images) Getty ImagesThankfully I had a chance to talk to an expert about it recently. Arizona Cardinals running back Jeremiyah Love, the third overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, is an anime expert. I knew this in a general sense, but I wanted to understand exactly what role it played in his life.
Love told me that he doesn’t watch anything else in life. He said he doesn’t partake in American shows or movies, not that he is against them or anything, and that he only consumes anime. Got it. The right person to teach me.
To be clear I mentioned to Love how I was doing recon work for the purposes around my son. He mentioned that anime is obviously very cool for kids, but he then said something that really made me think.
“I think anime is great for kids. A lot of people grew up with shows like Pokémon and Digimon, and it really adds to your childhood experience. For me, anime played a big role growing up. It actually helped shape some of my morals. There are a lot of lessons you can learn — not just from the main characters, but from side characters and even antagonists.”
The themes within anime productions can be powerful, and to Jeremiyah’s point the morals at stake are great teaching tools. It is fascinating to consider this sector of what the genre provides.
Jeremiyah struck me as a really grounded individual and someone who I fully believe will continued to succeed at the NFL level. It certainly helps that he is one of the best athletes to enter the league at large in some time, and a big reason for that is the role that something else plays in his life - peanuts.
“Peanuts have honestly been a big part of my development as an athlete. When I got to college, I was underweight, and a lot of my weight gain came from eating foods with peanuts. That meant a lot of PB&Js, snacks like bread with peanut butter, and just eating nuts in general. It became a big part of how I built myself up physically.”
“It’s also just a great source of protein, so I still rely on it. A lot of what I eat involves peanuts — they’ve really played a key role in helping me get where I am.”
Jeremiyah Love acts with purpose in everything he does, whether that’s the food he eats or the content he consumes.
The Arizona Cardinals are lucky to have him.
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