Konopasek was born on April 12, 1964, in Gary, Indiana.[1] He attended Griffith High School in Griffith, Indiana, and is their only alumnus to play in the NFL.[2] He played football and basketball at Griffith, being a lineman in the former while a center in the latter.[3][4] In football, he was a three-year starter and played two-ways for his last two seasons, leading the team in tackles and posting 10 sacks as a senior while being named first-team all-state on defense.[4] He helped the team compile a record of 11–1 in his last year and was invited to the North–South All-Star Game.[5]
Konopasek began attending Ball State University after his graduation from Griffith in 1982 and was a member of the scout team that year.[6][7] He joined fellow Griffith graduate Mike Willis at Ball State, and both studied computer science there.[8] He began his collegiate career as a defensive tackle and lettered in 1983 while playing every game.[9][10][11] He repeated as a letterman in 1984 while switching to offensive tackle, being a full-time starter and again appearing in every game while being named honorable mention academic all-conference.[5][10][11][12]
Konopasek was named co-team captain and continued as a full-time starter in the 1985 season, starting all 11 games and extending his streak to 33 consecutive games played.[10][11] He was selected first-team academic all-conference after the year.[10] He was again co-team captain as a senior in 1986 but missed playing time due to an offseason foot injury.[5] He finished his senior year with six games played and was named for the second time first-team academic all-conference with a 3.097 grade point average (GPA).[13] He was also given the Ball State football academic award.[14]
