Ivan "John" Jurkovic (born August 18, 1967) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player currently employed as a broadcaster. He grew up in

Calumet City, Illinois Calumet City ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 36,033 at the 2020 census, a decline of 2.7% from 37,042 in 2010. The ZIP code is 60409. Etymology The word ''Calumet'' is the Miꞌkmaq ...

. Jurkovic played professionally as a

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

, and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Jurkovic was a fan favorite in Green Bay for his boisterous personality. He attended

Thornton Fractional North High School Thornton Fractional North High School (T.F. North, TF North, TFN; formerly Thornton Fractional Township High School) is a Public Secondary school in Calumet City, Illinois. It first opened its doors in March 1926. The school serves Calumet C ...

and

Eastern Illinois University Eastern Illinois University is a public university in Charleston, Illinois. Established in 1895 as the Eastern Illinois State Normal School, a teacher's college offering a two-year degree, Eastern Illinois University gradually expanded into a co ...

. Jurkovic also was a reserve color commentator for the

NFL on FOX The ''NFL on Fox'' (also known as ''Fox NFL'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games produced by Fox Sports and televised on the Fox broadcast network. Game coverage is usually preceded by ''Fox NFL Kickoff ...

from 2001-2001, and is now a midday show host on ESPN Radio 1000 in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

along with Carmen DeFalco. His younger brother,

Mirko Jurkovic Mirko Jurkovic (May 19, 1970 – January 9, 2013) was an American football offensive guard who played college football at the University of Notre Dame and attended Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City, Illinois. He was drafted by ...

, played football with him at

and then on the offensive line at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

where he was an All-American. Mirko died January 9, 2013 from cancer. He is of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n descent.John Jurkovic

References

1967 births Living people American football defensive tackles Eastern Illinois Panthers football players Green Bay Packers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Cleveland Browns players American sports announcers German players of American football American people of Croatian descent Radio personalities from Chicago People from Friedrichshafen Sportspeople from Tübingen (region) People from Calumet City, Illinois Arena football announcers National Football League announcers Sportspeople from the Chicago metropolitan area {{defensive-lineman-1960s-stub