Dante Love

Dante Love is an American former college football player. He played as a wide receiver for the Ball State Cardinals at Ball State University until he suffered a cervical fracture during a 2008 season game. At the time of his career-ending injury, Love was the 2008 season's national leader in receiving yards, and he ranked as Ball State's career kick return yards leader and second-leading receiver in terms of yards and number of receptions.

Early life He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to Maxine Love on March 19, 1986. Love attended Withrow High School, where he played football as a quarterback during his last two school years. As a senior in 2004, the team posted a 10–1 record and secured the Southwest Ohio Public League championship. That season, Love threw for 2,094 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 970 yards and 14 touchdowns. He was subsequently named an All-City and All-Southwest Ohio District player, Ohio North-South and Ohio East-West All-Star, and the Withrow High School most valuable player. Love was also named the City Offensive Player of the Year and The Cincinnati Enquirer Division III Player of the Year.

College career In 2005, Love enrolled at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and played as a true freshman wide receiver on the football team. On special teams, Love returned 22 kick-offs for 545 yards, which included a 94-yard return for a touchdown against Ohio. He led the team in all-purpose yardage with 74.7 yards per game. At the end of the season, he was named co-recipient of the John Hodge Award for the team's most outstanding freshman player. Love made two catches for 25 yards in the first half. With 10:45 left in the second quarter, quarterback Nate Davis threw a short 2-yard pass to the right for Love on a swing route. He made the reception and ran to the outside and along the sideline. An Indiana linebacker grabbed onto Love's shoulder pads from behind, which caused him to lower his head as he pushed forward for more yards. An Indiana cornerback, Chris Adkins, made the tackle from the front and Love fell to the ground with the ball being knocked loose. Hoosiers safety Nick Polk recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown. Love remained on the ground for several minutes and reported that his legs were numb. He had suffered a cervical fracture of his spine. After about fifteen minutes, he was placed on a spineboard and taken to the locker room by a motorized cart. Love was then transported by ambulance to Ball Memorial Hospital and then by helicopter to Methodist Hospital of Indianapolis. Doctors showed Love x-rays of his fractured neck and informed him that he may eventually walk again, but would never be able to play football. That night, doctors performed a five-hour surgical procedure to stabilize his spine. After the surgery, Love was able to move his arms and legs.

Ball State went on to win the game against Indiana for the school's first-ever victory over a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) conference school. Head coach Brady Hoke called it the biggest win in school history during a greatly abbreviated post-game press conference. Hoke cut it short in order to visit Love in the hospital.