New York Giants rookie defensive back Julian Love is going home to Chicago this week with more on his mind than a football game. The former Notre Dame star was looking forward to meeting up with two of childhood friends when the Giants play the Bears this Sunday at Soldier Field.
That won’t be happening now.
Last week, Love’s childhood friends — Joey Ramos and Tony Lemon — died in an auto accident when the car they were riding in plunged into Lake Michigan.
From Art Stapleton of USA TODAY:
Love will head back for his emotional homecoming with a heavy heart after Ramos and Lemon were killed in a one-car accident over the weekend. The men had been missing since Sunday and their car was found and pulled from Lake Michigan on Tuesday.
“A tragedy like this happens, and everything gets put into perspective,” Love told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK Northeast after practice Wednesday. “Joey was a big Bears fan, and this is the game where, I have no doubt they’d be there Sunday cheering me on. It’s hard, it’s definitely hard, but they’ll be with me this way, too. They’ll be there in spirit.”
Love has had a trying rookie season with the Giants, mainly because the Giants just don’t have a role for him at the moment. Defensive coordinator James Bettcher, in his weekly media session, was still unsure of what to make of Love.
“Yeah, he’s a safety/nickel,” said Bettcher. “A lot of those guys in the back end are safety/nickel or corner/nickel.”
But Love has played sparingly — only three defensive snaps all season to be precise — and has been used primarily on special teams. It’s been a disappointing season for the fourth round draft choice.
“I think Julian is close, he fits in the same category as DeAndre Baker, Corey Ballentine, X-man and even Lorenzo Carter in his second year,” Bettcher said when asked what Love needs to do to get more playing time. “The thing that I really like about Julian is you go and watch him take notes. He’s taking notes, he is locked into the meeting room and he has been that way since day one. I think AB (Antoine Bethea) has really helped him, I think AB has been a great guy in the room.
“I sit in the DB meeting room a bunch and I hear AB (saying), ‘hey, Julian you see this, recognize that, you see that, that’s why it’s this’ and they have some good dialogue and conversation. Julian is highly engaged in those conversations and that’s why he will trend himself to a guy that’s going to make a push to have a chance to play and be a guy that helps us.”
If Love does see an increased role on Sunday, he knows his two friends will be there with him in spirit.
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