Sewell learned by tutoring while away from football

CHARLOTTESVILLE Here's the irony that makes even Jameel Sewell laugh: During the quarterback's academic suspension from the University of Virginia last year, he tutored at Charlottesville's Buford Middle School.

Buford's principal, Eric Johnson, knew some explanation would be requested. Parents had questions, as did Buford students attuned to Cavaliers' athletics. How can an academically suspended guy tutor? What kind of signal does that send?

Johnson began his answers by explaining that some academic suspensions are caused by the inability of students to do required work. Others come about because capable students do not do the work. He assured concerned parties that Sewell was capable of doing the work.

"As I explained to the parents who questioned me on this, I said to them 'If you come to school and you observe his interaction with kids, how he's helping these kids get work done, you may not be amazed, but you will be pleased,'" Johnson said.

"No parents accepted that challenge."

Johnson's son, Chris, played defensive end for the Cavaliers and also dealt with an academic suspension, during 2005-06. Sewell, a two-year starter from Hermitage High who knows Chris Johnson, was suspended from U.Va. for the spring and fall semesters of 2008. Eric Johnson saw the pain the suspension caused his son and reached out to Sewell.

"I always said that if I could ever help someone who was going through something like that, I would," Eric Johnson said.

Sewell accepted Johnson's offer to visit Buford, meet students and talk to them about academic responsibility and life. Sewell was then asked to help out as a mentor to troubled students. He tutored others in science and English.

"He encouraged kids to get work done. That piece was more valuable than anything else," Johnson said. Sewell was eventually offered and accepted a job as an instructional assistant.

"He was phenomenal with what he did with the kids here," Johnson said. He was so impressed with Sewell that Johnson advised Sewell that he should look into a career as a school counselor.

"It was humbling," Sewell said of his spring and fall at Buford Middle School. "First of all, I love working with kids. I love to help. Just to have the impact on lives, it just helped me to understand there are other things out there than football for me. It just helped me a lot, to get my mind right."

Sewell continued to live with Cavaliers players, and he occasionally watched them practice. But he tried to avoid Scott Stadium on game days.

"Not that I didn't want to support the guys, but it was just difficult for me to do so," Sewell said.

He helped coach offense at Charlottesville High School and its athletic director, Rick Lilly, called Sewell "a great asset to our program. For us, it was a really, really positive experience."

While working with CHS players, Sewell threw to keep his arm active and ran. As far as lifting weights, unless push-ups count, he didn't. When he rejoined the football program last spring, "my body looked terrible," said Sewell.

He competes now for the QB job with Vic Hall and Marc Verica. According to center Jack Shields "If you see [Sewell], in all honesty, I think he's better than he was two years ago. He's just as fast, if not faster. He has an unbelievable arm. I wouldn't say there's any rust whatsoever. It almost seems like he was playing all of last year."

Cavaliers coach Al Groh on Sunday said that to him, Sewell looked as though "he's really pretty much back on his game the way that he was before."

Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or .