When Terry Malone started making his way to the front of the room at Purdue’s annual banquet, Jordan Jurasevich had an inkling.
Sure enough, at the season-ending event in mid-December, the senior tight end from Crown Point received the Leonard Wilson Award, which is presented for unselfishness and dedication.
“That meant a lot,” Jurasevich said. “It was funny, too, because everyone getting their name called was pretty much going up there, grabbing their plaque, shaking hands and sitting back down.
“Coach Malone just kept talking, saying nice things. I was just standing there, didn’t know what to do. It was a little embarrassing, but really cool.”
And why wouldn’t Malone, the tight ends coach who also was named offensive coordinator in late December, have a lot of nice things to say?
Jurasevich graduated from Crown Point in 2011 as a 6-foot-3, 210-pound linebacker. He ended up topping Purdue’s depth chart this season as a 250-pound tight end. He’s slated to graduate this spring with a degree in applied exercise and health, having made Academic All-Big Ten in both of his seasons.
In between, Jurasevich started his college career at North Central, transferred to Purdue after one year at the Division III school in Naperville, Ill., and made the Boilermakers roster as a walk-on in his third tryout attempt. He earned a scholarship this past spring.
Jurasevich’s takeaway?
“Always be ready, because you never know when an opportunity will arise,” he said. “As long as the opportunity was still there to try out, I was going to go until I couldn’t go anymore, and it finally worked out. Then just working your way to becoming the starting tight end, it’s seizing the opportunity.
“It’s been a great experience. It didn’t go exactly as planned, but I learned so much throughout the process, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Purdue coach Darrell Hazell called Jurasevich “a true Boilermaker.”
“You love his toughness and work ethic,” Hazell said. “He brings those elements to our program every single day. He will fight you, and he works extremely hard.”
After spending Christmas with his family, Jurasevich has been in Naperville, training at Acceleration Sports Performance in advance of Purdue’s Pro Day in early March. He returns to campus for the Jan. 11 start of the second semester, needing two classes and an internship to graduate.
He has NFL dreams. He’s also realistic. He wants to be a sports performance coach, so the pro day offers a chance to observe both sides. As far as football goes, Jurasevich is secure in his accomplishments.
With no Division I offers out of high school, he landed at North Central as a linebacker, before making a midseason switch to tight end. But something was missing.
“I couldn’t see myself playing there four years,” Jurasevich said. “I always wanted to play for Purdue, and if I stayed at North Central and never tried, I would’ve regretted it. So I just went with it.”
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He tried out for the Boilermakers before the 2012 season, under then-coach Danny Hope. He didn’t make the team. In the spring of 2013, after Hazell was hired, he tried out again but faced an academic hiccup.
“It was my first semester not having football, and as weird as it sounds, it takes up a lot of your time, but it made me more organized,” Jurasevich said. “Without football, I was thinking, ‘I have all day to get this done.’ And then it would never get done.
“So I got behind the eight-ball with grades. Coach Hazell told me to get my grades up and come back next year.”
In the spring of 2014, with his GPA in order, he finally made the team. A year later, after intense catch-up work at tight end, he was placed on scholarship. He vividly remembers — mostly — the scene from the spring game draft.
Hazell feigned talking on his cell phone and put a picture of Jurasevich on the overhead projector.
“From where I was sitting, and the lighting, I knew it was me, but I couldn’t see the writing,” he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. Everyone was clapping, so I just started clapping, too. Then I realized what it was, all my teammates and coaches were hugging me.
“From there, it was a blur. The noise quieted down, we went on with the draft, but I can’t tell you anything about it. I was so shocked.”
Primarily a blocker, Jurasevich had one catch for two yards in 2014. This season, he had 10 catches for 58 yards and two touchdowns.
“He is a tough nut, and he comes to work every day,” Malone said. “He’s a blue-collar kid who I’m very happy to have with us.”
“He deserves it (the scholarship) for his actions off the field, he deserves it for his actions in the classroom, and obviously he’s helped us on the football field,” Hazell said. “He’s a wonderful young man.”
Twitter: @MichaelOsipoff