Vujnovich is the only man in LCU’s recent history of football to start a game in the NFL. In fact, he started in 23 of them. His rise to the NFL is an incredible story.
The 6’-5” product from Belle Chase High School came to then Louisiana College in 2009 weighing around 210 pounds. It was during his recruiting trip in his senior year of high school that Vujnovich was given a stunning prediction from then LC football coach Dennis Dunn.
“He was like, ‘Yuni, you’re going to play in the NFL one day,’” Vujnovich recalled. “It kinda caught me off guard, but he said, ‘I’m serious. You’re gonna play on Sundays one day if you come to Louisiana College and come play football for me.’”
Dunn’s prediction would come true. Through lots of hard work by Jeremy in the weight room, that 210 became 295, and by his sophomore season, Vujnovich was entrenched as the starting left tackle. He was named all-conference honorable mention in the American Southwest, while providing blind side protection for the record-shattering quarterback, Ben McLaughlin.
As a junior in 2011, Vujnovich emerged as one of the best offensive linemen in the ASC, as he was named first team all-conference and helped the Wildcats to their fourth straight 7-3 record.
In 2012, the Wildcats took their game up a notch and earned the school’s first-ever NCAA Division III playoff appearance with an 8-2 record under Dunn. Vujnovich was again first-team all-conference and added a preseason all-American selection from the Beyond Sports Network. Bigger things were to come.
“We had a saying, ‘Leave it better than you found it,’” Vujnovich said. “That means you put out the hardest work ethic, give it everything you got, and ultimately, hopefully even better than you found it.”
Jeremy caught the eye of NFL scouts, and in 2013, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers. He would spend two seasons with Green Bay as a member of the practice squad. But his best opportunity came two years later as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. After spending the 2016 season on the Colts’ practice squad, Vujnovich was promoted to the active roster and was named starting left guard by coach Chuck Pagano for all 16 games of the 2017 season.
“Running out on the field with the Colts, my name getting called, and you run through the smoke with thousands of people there, I can literally remember thinking back and hearing Coach Dunn say, ‘Hey Jeremy, you will play on Sunday one day.’”
A coaching change in Indianapolis meant another change for Vujnovich. In 2018, he was signed by the Arizona Cardinals. Jeremy played in five games for the Cardinals, starting two, before being placed on injured reserve. His NFL career would end in the 2020 season after Vujnovich spent the summer training camp with Washington but did not make the final roster.
In all, it was an NFL career that spanned seven seasons and saw Vujnovich play in 23 games while starting in 18.
Today, Jeremy Vujnovich is back in Louisiana, as he lives in the New Orleans area where he works as an account executive with Limble CMMS, a maintenance software company. Jeremy’s wife is Katie, and they have a daughter, Lennon, and a son, Bowen.
“I am forever grateful for my time at LC,” Vujnovich said. “It means the world to me to be put into the LC Hall of Fame.”
