Sewell awaits his chance

Jameel Sewell is counting down the days.

In a matter of weeks, pending the completion of some paperwork yet to be filed, the quarterback who started 22 games for Virginia in 2006 and 2007 will return to the school as a full-time student-athlete.

The school-imposed academic penalty that was placed upon him after stumbles in the classroom will have been served.

A changed man returns, Sewell said.

“I learned that nothing is guaranteed. It was never a guarantee for me,” said Sewell, who lifted Virginia to a 9-4 record in 2007 with 12 passing touchdowns and four more on the ground. “It was almost taken from me when I broke my wrist, but it really hit me in the face once I sat out.

“I took it for granted. I took everything for granted. I thought I was supposed to be there. I was not supposed to be there. You have to earn everything.”

After learning that he was being placed on academic suspension by the deans at Virginia, Sewell voluntarily elected to enroll at Piedmont Virginia Community College last January.

It turned into a short stint.

“I was trying to stay on top of things,” Sewell said, “but I stopped working in the summer for about a month and by the time things started back up I didn’t have enough money to take classes during the fall.”

Thanks to the guidance of Buford Middle School principal Eric Johnson, whom Sewell considers a mentor and hero, the southpaw quarterback went to work.

Considered a teacher’s assistant, Sewell works one-on-one on a daily basis with a young boy that receives special education services at the school.

“Basically, I teach him every subject,” Sewell said. “I have never done anything like that, and he has been through a lot so I am just trying to be there for him.”

His pupil does not have an understanding, Sewell said, of what the quarterback’s status was the past two seasons or what it will be when he returns to the ACC.

Others that Sewell has worked with do have an idea.

After Johnson set up a meeting between Sewell and Charlottesville athletic director Rick Lilly, the Richmond native joined the Black Knights’ coaching staff as a personal tutor for the team’s quarterbacks.

While biding his time was tough, Sewell used the opportunity to inform the players on the team of the value of academics and accountability for your actions.

Lessons in responsibility

“When I had the opportunity to talk to the kids that I have been working with, I told them that nothing is guaranteed,” he recounted. “I made sure I told them that and that was really the reason that I chose to work in the school system.”

Sewell worked directly with CHS quarterback Kevin Leatherwood, one of the most talented athletes in Central Virginia, before injuries took their toll on the player.

“I saw the frustration with him because he has so much fight and competiveness and he wasn’t able to let it go through the injuries,” Sewell said. “He played through a lot of stuff that people don’t know about, but he is a fighter.

“He reminded me of myself a little bit, being able to play through some injuries and some setbacks.”

With his return to the Cavaliers’ program inching closer, Sewell is well aware that another quarterback controversy could be brewing.

It was the case for the program early in 2006 with Christian Olsen, Kevin McCabe and Sewell, and again this season with Peter Lalich and Marc Verica before Lalich was kicked off the team due to off-the-field issues.

Sewell just wants a chance to fight for the job with Verica, who ranks second in the ACC in passing, but has 12 interceptions and eight touchdowns.

“I am not coming out there not to win it. I am coming out there to take it back — without a doubt,” Sewell said. “I am a competitor and that’s why I play the position that I play. That’s why I play the sport that I play.

“Whoever wins it will win it.”

Virginia reserve quarterback Scott Deke, a fifth-year senior, said that he expects Sewell to battle with intensity for the job.

“I think when you look at Jameel, one word sticks out whether it is on the field or the classroom or the circumstances that have arisen with his departure and now his coming back and that word is resilience,” Deke said. “He will never give up. He is going to do what he can that is best for him and whatever is best for the team.

“You would much rather have two guys than no guys. It is not a bad situation to be in next year. It will be real exciting. Competition breeds success. It is only going to make UVa better.”

A satisfying turnaround

Sewell said his return takes a backseat — for now — to Virginia’s bigger problem: becoming bowl-eligible. With a win Saturday against Clemson, the Cavaliers will also remain in the picture to win the ACC’s Coastal Division.

That looked impossible after Virginia opened the season 1-3 without Sewell under center. What transpired brings a quick smile to Sewell’s face.

“It means the world to me that they turned it around because so many people have so many dumb things to say out of their mouth about them,” Sewell said. “Those are my brothers and it just feels good for them to stare those people down in their face and show that they are still fighters regardless of what happens.

“All the talk that they were just going to win two games or whatever it was, we take talk like that and run with it. It is fuel for our fire. The more talk that there is just means the more fuel that you are putting on the fire to encourage us to burn them. That is my school and my brothers, and that’s just how I feel.”