Jurewicz was a star lineman at Deerfield High School in Illinois, a starter on the varsity team in 1990 and 1991. He was named as an all-conference player in 1990, and again in 1991,[1] also being named all-area, all-state,[1] and the Gatorade Player of the Year for Illinois football.[2]
He was a starting defensive lineman for the University of WisconsinBadgers, going directly from red shirt to a starting player in 1993 when his predecessor was injured.[3] He started playing at 6'5" and 240 pounds.[4] In 1994, the sophomore started the season as a rushing linebacker, but was once again moved to defensive line, bulking up by 20 pounds in the process,[5] and playing with the team in the Rose Bowl that year. He deflected 9 passes as a Badgers defensive lineman in 1996, a school record,[6] and he was an Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Conference selection the same year.[7] He made 9 tackles for a loss in his last five games with the Badgers, with UW assistant coach John Palermo calling him "...as good of a defensive lineman as there is in the league".[8]
After graduating from University of Wisconsin, he signed as a free agent with the Panthers in 1997.[7] After being released in August of the same year,[9] he was picked up in February 1998 by the Indianapolis Colts and spent some time on their practice squad; the latter team placed him on waivers after a few months.[10] Most newspapers in 1998 incorrectly listed his position as offensive lineman.[10]
Jurewicz was the President and CEO of GradeBeam, LLC, an online bidding and communication company in the construction industry.[11][12] GradeBeam was one of Chicago's largest privately held companies[13] before a sale to Textura Corporation and subsequent initial public offering.
