Joe Jurevicius

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joe Jurevicius
Date of birth	December 23, 1974
Place of birth	Cleveland, OH
Position(s)	WR
College	Penn State
Statistics	Pro Football Reference NFL.com DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1998-2001 2002-2004 2005 2006-	New York Giants Tampa Bay Buccaneers Seattle Seahawks Cleveland Browns

Joseph Michael Jurevicius (born December 23, 1974 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. He was originally drafted in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft by the New York Giants out of Pennsylvania State University. He has also played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks.

1 High School Years
2 Career
3 Personal
4 NFL year by year statistics
5 External links

[edit] High School Years

Joe Jurevicius attended Lake Catholic High School in Mentor, Ohio, and was a letterman in football as a wide receiver/punter and in basketball.

[edit] Career

Joe Jurevicius played for 4 seasons with the New York Giants (1998-02). During his time in NY he played in 58 games, scored 5 touchdowns and had 1,442 receiving yards. He also had only 2 fumbles. He played in the Giants' 34-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV, but did not record any receptions.

In 2002 Jurevicius signed a four-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a unrestricted free agent. After a season that saw him emerge as critical to the team, especially on third downs, he authored what is widely considered the greatest offensive play in Buccaneers' history, when, in the NFC Championship game against the heavily favored rival Philadelphia Eagles, he took a crossing pattern 76 yards down to the Eagles' one-yard line. Two plays later, fullback Mike Alstott ended the Buccaneer's four-game offensive touchdown drought against the Eagles, and the momentum propelled the team to a 27-10 victory and a berth in their first Super Bowl. Jurevicius struck again in Super Bowl XXXVII, leading the team in receiving yards with four catches for 78 yards, propelling Tampa Bay to a 48-21 win over the Oakland Raiders. The victory was especially bittersweet, as Jurevicius had lost his infant son, Michael, in the week before the Philadelphia game, but his grit and performance made him a fan favorite.

Unfortunately, after a two-touchdown performance in a 17-0 victory over the same Eagles in the season opener of the following year (including a circus catch that saw Jurevicius tip the ball to himself, behind his back, over Philadelphia cornerback Lito Sheppard and just before Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins arrived), Jurevicius was the first to suffer from a spate of injuries that ultimately claimed nine of the Buccaneer’s twenty-two starters from the Super Bowl. The following week at Carolina, he tore his MCL and partially tore his ACL in a freak collision that also broke Alstott’s neck, ending both of their seasons. After nearly two years of rehabilitation, the Buccaneers cut him loose for a variety of reasons, but he left Tampa having played in 30 games with 874 yards receiving, while scoring eight touchdowns.

In 2005 he signed with the Seattle Seahawks as an unrestricted free agent. Despite coming off of injury, 2005 would prove to be his best year yet in the NFL. He finished the regular season with a career high 10 touchdowns with 694 receiving yards, leading the team in touchdowns and coming in second in yards. He also had a career high 137 yard against the St. Louis Rams, then accomplished the same feat against his old team, the New York Giants. He capped off the season by leading the Seahawks in receiving with 5 catches for 93 yards in their 21-10 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL, with his long coming in the waning moments when he caught a 20-yard pass and then ran over three of Pittsburgh's defenders, including Pro Bowler Troy Polamalu, while picking up fifteen more yards in an attempt to get Seattle one final shot at a score.

Despite his strong performance with the Seahawks, they couldn't match an offer extended to him from another club in the offseason. On March 11, 2006, Jurevicius signed a four year contract with the Cleveland Browns, fulfilling a lifelong dream of playing for his hometown team.

[edit] Personal

Jurevicius lives in Chardon, Ohio with his wife, Meagan, and daughter. His only son, Michael William Jurevicius, died on March 24, 2003 from sialidosis, a neurodegenerative disease. Since his son's early passing he has been a strong support of the March of Dimes programs and will dedicate his touchdowns to his son by either pointing up to the sky, or throwing the ball into the air(a celebration called "The Heavens"). A scholarship has been made in his son's name. The inaugural winner of the newly founded scholarship was Nicholas Cipkus.

He has a tattoo of Vytis, the national symbol of Lithuania on his right biceps. He is of Lithuanian descent.

He earned a degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University in 1997.

Joe has been on the cover of Sports Illustrated 2 times, has lived in four different homes, & actually went to high school playing basketball, but in his sophomore year his mom LITERALY dragged him by the ear to the football sign ups. He actually got offered scholorships for basketball, but took the football one to Penn State instead. His favorite sport is still basketball.

[edit] NFL year by year statistics

(updated December 8, 2006)

Year	Team	G	GS	Rec	Yards	AVG	TD	Lg
1998	NYG	14	1	9	146	16.2	0	59
1999	NYG	16	1	18	318	17.7	1	71
2000	NYG	14	3	24	272	11.3	1	43
2001	NYG	14	9	51	706	13.8	3	46
2002	TB	15	3	37	423	11.4	4	26
2003	TB	5	2	12	118	9.8	2	22
2004	TB	10	3	27	333	12.3	2	42
2005	SEA	16	11	55	694	12.6	10	52
2006	CLE	11	6	31	391	12.6	2	52
Totals		115	40	264	3401	12.9	25	71