Joe Jurevicius And The NFC Championship
December 6th, 2012
As Joe pointed out yesterday, how ironic the Bucs chose the Eagles game to honor the 2002 Super Bowl champions, because the Bucs got to their lone Super Bowl by upsetting the Eagles in the final game held at Veterans Stadium.
For former Bucs reciever Joe Jurevicius, that game marked the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. In a powerful, emotional interview Jurevicius gave Booger McFarland and Rich Herrera yesterday, co-hosts of the “Booger and Rich Show,” heard on WHFS-FM 98.7, Jurevicius gave eye-opening details about how he was torn with no easy answer.
Jurevicius’ infant son lay dying in a hospital yet his teammates also needed his services badly in the NFC Championship.
Missing virtually all practices leading up to the game to be with his son and having scant information on the gameplan, Jurevicius came off the bench and made a play that not only turned around the game, but may have launched the Bucs into the Super Bowl (Ronde Barber’s pick-six late in the game nailed the Eagles’ coffin shut).
Jurevicius spoke openly about how that week, his Bucs teammates became his family and Jurevicius notes how if it was not for the help of a specific Bucs teammate (that may shock some Bucs fans), Jurevicius, looking back, isn’t sure if he could have suited up that day.
December 6th, 2012 at 11:36 am
If you watch the Bucs Super Bowl Season Highlights DVD, that play was pure Gruden genius. He pulled a shift and got JJ covered by Barry Gardner who ran a drag route right in front of the LBs and Gardner couldn’t keep up with a WR and Joe just pulled away.
I SOOOOO wanted him to score.
December 6th, 2012 at 11:47 am
Yeah…that was a great play; i to wanted him to score.
That was an incredible sacrifice he made. Thats one that will never be forgotten. He will be forever remebered for it and will always be a Bucs.
Go Joe!
December 6th, 2012 at 11:51 am
I LOVEEE Joe forever….its a special week (and what about Brad Johnson’s story: he missed..the team bus after winning the SuperBowl…so he and his wife hitch-hiked a ride back to the team hotel..and stopped along the way to get a 12 Pack/Beer)
December 6th, 2012 at 11:53 am
Joe Jurevicius is the truth!
December 6th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Who helped him?! Was it Sapp? It was Sapp…
December 6th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
Jrock:
Click the link and listen.
December 6th, 2012 at 12:14 pm
JJ had the biggest play of the game I remember watching and thinkin wow we finally are about to be the eagles… Good memories man
December 6th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
Without clicking the link I am going to guess it was “Meshawn” that helped him.
December 6th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
I want to know who helped him. I can’t get the interview for some reason.
December 6th, 2012 at 1:47 pm
I’m at work so I can’t click on the link, but I’m going to guess that it was either Warren Sapp or Keyshawn Johnson that helped Jurevicius out.
Going back to what Adam L posted, I love the highlight of Gruden’s playcalling; the Philly and Oakland games were really the masterworks of Jon Gruden’s time in Tampa (the opening day Philly game the following season, which featured even more Jurevicius was also a highlight).
December 6th, 2012 at 1:48 pm
Trey:
Interview link works for Joe. Give the audio time to load.
December 6th, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Joe,
That isn’t irony, it’s poetic justice, it’s coincidence, or it’s fitting. It’s anything but irony. Irony is the opposite of what you would expect. Having this celebration in a game against the Eagles is exactly what I would have expected, espcially considering the Raiders game was on the road.
December 6th, 2012 at 2:14 pm
What a great interview, everyone should listen. Sent chills down my spine.
Thanks for linking that up Joe, made my day.
December 6th, 2012 at 2:18 pm
I love all those guys. Whata team of characters but without the negative connotations. Simeon Rice, Sapp daddy, Keyshawn, Bull Johnson, Alstott the defense that coaching staff. Forever burned in the hearts of Bucs fans
December 6th, 2012 at 2:23 pm
Joe, I can tell you really want people to click on the link and listen to the radio, and it’s kind of annoying. Everyone has different styles of gathering their news, and clicking on a link to listen to radio or watch a video is at the bottom of my list. It takes too long to listen to the babble before you get to any potential good information.
I think reading is most people’s preferred method because you can do it very quickly at your own pace, and skip around as needed. I’m just telling you this to give some feedback to the type of content I (and I have a feeling many others) enjoy most on this and other sites. Once blogs start posting too many videos or podcasts it’s time for me to find a different source. Also, most people browse websites at work where they can’t turn up volume, etc.
December 6th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
You are welcome, Eric.
That’s the first time Joe ever heard Jurevicius talk about that subject.
You could tell he still gets emotional over it. Seemed like he had Booger about to break down.
Best Bucs-related interview Joe has heard in a long time.
December 6th, 2012 at 2:27 pm
Geno:
It’s called “multimedia,” as in a variety of different content forms. If you don’t want to listen to that interview, all Joe can say is you are the one missing out.
It’s the 21st century. Not everyone wants to just read (this isn’t just a recent trend either). If Joe finds something interesting, he will embed it, link to it, upload it. It’s always been that way since Joe first launched that site.
Reason why Joe has been offering more multimedia of late is that there is more content in multimedia forms over the past several months.
Joe’s just keeping up with technology. Long ago Joe learned you can keep up with technology, or get run over by it.
Joe has no intention of being run over by technology.
December 6th, 2012 at 3:57 pm
Great interview. A real profile in courage.
December 6th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
Have to agree, I almost never listen to audio or watch videos. I’m sure Joe has stats on that sort of thing, though.
December 7th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
…or maybe we just don’t have 15 minutes to be able to glean two or three bits of actual content.