The story that tried to sneak in under the weather yesterday is Jameel Sewell leaving the University of Virginia.
UVA won't say why and Sewell isn't returning calls, but there are clues. On his own Facebook page, Sewell refers to himself as UVA alumnus. He may be gone, but not graduated. To add insult to injury, Sewell's number 10 jersey has been moved to the discount rack.
Once UVA's star quarterback Sewell won't be coming back. The university says he and three other football players aren't enrolled for the spring semester.
"It's really sad. I don't know what's going to happen now. We had such a good season this year," commented UVA first year student Ali Stathis.
UVA, citing privacy issues, isn't saying exactly why the four football players aren't in school. But other sources say it's about grades.
If the players are on academic suspension, school policy says they must take two full semesters off, unless an exception is made. That has Cavaliers concerned ahead of spring practice.
"Spring practice is a time where you can demonstrate leadership to the upcoming freshman, and since we have a lot of seniors leaving, namely Chris Long, that's losing a lot of leadership on our team," said UVA third year student Nick Chavez.
Other football fans, aren't as worried. They're already eyeing Sewell's replacement.
"Frankly he's been playing now, for two years almost, and he hasn't really been doing a very good job," stated UVA fourth year student Brian O'Neill.
Stathis offered, "We have an up and coming quarterback who's a first year who I think has a lot of potential."
O'Neill was more specific: "So maybe it's time to put Lalich in and build up him and maybe he'll improve whereas Sewell really hasn't seemed to."
Still, they hope Sewell can jump back into the game, and have advice for how he can boost his academic "A" game.
"I would say, get a tutor and work a little harder," suggested Stathis.
Now there's one more question to answer. Chris Cook, one of the players now not enrolled, didn't play in the Gator Bowl because of academic ineligibility. So, if all of the grades came out at the same time, why would Sewell have been able to play?
We've filed the formal paperwork with UVA to get that answered. We'll let you know when they do.
