Top > Sport > 2005 > August > 2005-08-06

Fatherhood first for one Seahawks receiver

When Joe Jurevicius signed a free-agent contract with the Seahawks last March, he considered the team`s chances of winning, the money, the coaching staff, the offensive philosophy. One added bonus that wasn`t officially entered in the contract -- babysitting in-laws and family support. For the former Tampa Bay wide receiver, playing in Seattle brings the benefit of a return home for his wife, Meagan (Dewey) Jurevicius, a former middle-distance running star at Mercer Island High in the 1980s.

Jurevicius insists that really wasn`t a deal-maker in his decision to sign with the Seahawks after four years with the New York Giants and three with Tampa Bay. But make no mistake. Family is foremost for the two-time Super Bowl veteran. Jurevicius made national headlines in January of 2003 when he helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII while his newborn son, Michael, was battling for his life in a Tampa hospital. Michael died two months later, never able to overcome fetal sialidosis, a degenerative cell disease that limited his lung development. Since then, the couple has had their second child, Caroline, who will soon celebrate her first birthday. For Jurevicius, fatherhood far outweighs anything else he`s done in life.

"Children, for me, are what make my world go around," Joe Jurevicius said. "It`s not football, it`s family. It`s my kids. That was a tough pill to swallow (when Michael died). So I think the least we could do is use the recognition I have in professional football to help others."