In his own words. Why Wake Forest’s Bryce Love skipped the NFL draft to stay at Stanford.

Bryce Love, the former Wake Forest High star running back and 2017 Heisman finalist, admits in an essay that he “confused” people by bypassing the 2018 NFL draft to return to Stanford for his senior season.

In the essay, titled “The Journey,” Love says the decision was a “difficult choice” but one that would allow him to continue playing with “some of the most dedicated and driven teammates in the world.”

Love, who’s 5-10 and 210 pounds, rushed for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior before announcing his decision to return to school in April. Love and No. 13 Stanford open their season Friday night at home against San Diego State.

You can read Love’s essay, which he wrote this summer in a Stanford class called “Winning Writing,” below:

The Journey

By Bryce Love

The day I first tied flags around my waist and ran up and down the field as a 5-year-old, I’ve loved the game of football. As far back as I can remember, I was running around the house with a football, jumping onto the couch as if Walter Payton, extending my arm and flicking my wrist like LaDainian Tomlinson, and studying Barry Sanders to understand how in the world he did what he did. My Pops played the old NFL films so often that Steve Sabol’s voice became a big part of my childhood. In the madness on the field, I’m at peace, at home.

Many people were confused when I decided to forgo the NFL draft last winter and finish my senior year at Stanford. I admit it was a difficult choice not to go pro as soon as possible.

Football’s my happiness, it’s my drive. It gave a kid from the suburbs of North Carolina the opportunity he dreamed of. It has taken me places I would have never gone and taught me so much about life and myself. On the field, it thrills me that somebody else is spending weeks on how to stop us. I get excited to think about the defense putting nine or 10 people in the box against us. There’s no feeling like looking from side to side before a play.

But I realized as my decision date for the NFL draft drew nearer that what started as a pure love for the game has allowed me to build bonds with some of the most dedicated and driven teammates in the world. More important than our work as individuals, we struggle toward a common goal. I’m willing to sacrifice anything to contribute to this team’s success. I couldn’t leave without trying one more time to achieve everything that my teammates and I have dreamed of -- to win the Pac-12 North, conference championship, and a national championship. In short, I have unfinished business at Stanford. More than anything, that’s what persuaded me to stay.

However, the reality of sports is that it does all come to an end, and this also informed my decision to stay. This has been a difficult transition -- to begin focusing on life after my playing days. As much as I wish to play in the N.F.L., I am also passionate about becoming a pediatrician -- something I’ve wanted since my doctor cured me of pneumonia when I was little.

Stanford has offered me the unparalleled opportunity of earning a degree in human biology at one of the most elite institutions in the world. I still remember visiting campus in high school, with Christian McCaffrey as my host. I sat in on the legendary “Sleep and Dreams” lecture with Dr. Dement, where a student who dozed during class was made to yell, “Drowsiness is red alert!”

I’m making the most of it. It’s sometimes hard to balance priorities -- I received flak last month for missing Pac-12 Media Day because I had class (I Skyped in instead.) But the work I put in now will help me navigate the tough road ahead. Further, turning pro as a college graduate will give me more tools to succeed on the field and in every other aspect of my career.

I’ve spent this final summer in statistics and political science classes, and in training, and taking lecture notes and ice baths, and writing essays and dragging 90-pound sleds. So after this season, I will be able to focus entirely on the game I love, for as long as I can play.

There are not clear answers to the questions ahead: What about injury? Will I be as attractive to pro teams next year? There are some measures I took to preclude these problems, like getting insurance for worst-case scenarios. There’s no way to know what the future looks like.

But I am confident in my decision because it was not something I came to alone. I talked with Coach Shaw and Coach Gould; with my parents; with my brother, Chris. I talked with Christian and Solomon Thomas, who both decided the previous year to go pro before finishing college, and to Andrew Luck, who finished college before going pro. They said I can’t make a wrong decision and no one pushed me in one direction. But all of them said, “Whatever you do, go at it 100 percent.”

Just like playing football, it was something my entire team, family and coaches helped me determine together. And I trust that process -- it’s gotten me this far.

Maybe my story will help someone facing a similar decision. I believe that pushing myself never to settle in any aspect of my life can show others, particularly in the black community, that they can reach their goals.

Did I make the right choice for me?

“Only I hold the key to my destiny” - Elaine Maxwell

See y’all Aug. 31.

San Diego State at Stanford

When: 9 p.m. Friday

TV: FS1

This story was originally published August 30, 2018 at 5:04 PM.