There have been many big weekends for the Sewell family over the past decade as their four sons reached the high school and college football ranks. This weekend is taking the cake, however, and it’s not even really close.
Noah Sewell will start as linebacker for Oregon on Saturday as it plays in Ohio State No. 2. Later that night, Nephi Sewell competes for Utah against BYU.
On Sunday, Penei Sewell will make his NFL debut as a starting offensive lineman for the Detroit Lions against the San Francisco 49ers.
Sewell’s parents will divide and conquer Saturday to ensure the family is represented at both Horseshoe in Columbus, Ohio and LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo.
“We have to pay attention to an even distribution. We don’t want anyone to feel they prefer one child to another, ”said Father Gabe Swell.
On Sunday, both Gabe Sewell and his wife Arlene will be in Detroit to see the regular season NFL debut of Penei Sewell, who won the first round and seventh overall by the Lions.
Penei Sewell has signed off from last year’s season shortened by COVID-19 in Oregon, which means Sunday will be his first major game in 20 months.
“He’s not a big pre-game emotion type. He doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve until he buckles it up and walks out onto the field. He’s pretty even. I know he’s pretty excited inside, ”said Gabe Sewell.
Gabe Sewell’s eldest son Gabriel played his college football in Nevada and retired in 2019. He had a trial with the Broncos this summer, but recently decided to leave football behind and move on to the next chapter in his life focus.
This includes a newborn son who was born on August 31, the second grandchild in the Sewell family after having a daughter last February.
Big brother Sewell will be sitting in front of his television in Utah this weekend and seeing his brothers play on the biggest stages in football.
As for attitudes, it’s hard to imagine surpassing Noah Sewell, who plays at Ohio State – a school that also recruited him.
“These are dream scenarios for athletes. You can play against some of the greatest schools on the greatest stages in history. It’s Ohio State. You can play in the shoe. He’s faced pretty much the biggest challenges in his career and hopefully it will stay that way, ”said Sewell father.
For Gabe Sewell, football weekend actually starts on Friday as he is the head coach of the Orem High School football team that plays Liberty, Nevada, at the Polynesian Classic in Las Vegas.
He said his focus right now is on the Tigers, who are trying to recover from last week’s season opening loss to Skyridge.
On the bus ride back to Utah, however, his thoughts will surely wander with excitement about the upcoming weekend for his boys. He’ll be watching the Oregon game on TV Saturday morning, but will be in the middle of the Utah parenting department in Provo by Saturday night. Then it’s off to Detroit early on Sunday morning to crown the football weekend.
“You sit down and think about where the boys are, what they’ve achieved and what stage they’re playing on, and you can’t help but think more about the journey than the destination,” said Gabe Sewell.
With the high school football season in week 5, college football in week 2, and the NFL in week 1, that kind of chaotic weekend will repeat itself again and again in 2021 and beyond.
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