Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell is certainly aware of the expectations that come with the family name.
Noah is the youngest of the four Sewell brothers. Penei also went to Oregon and now plays for the Detroit Lions. Nephi went to Utah and spent the preseason with the New Orleans Saints this year. Gabriel played at Nevada and is with the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars.
So yes, that pressure? It’s there.
”I’ve just got to put a stamp on it. I gotta be the biggest Sewell out there. I’ve got to be the biggest name, since I’m the youngest, I’ve just got to do better than all the brothers before me,” Noah said.
In his third season with the Ducks, Noah was named to The Associated Press preseason All-America first team. Oregon, ranked No. 11, kicks off the season against No. 3 Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta.
Last season, Noah led all freshmen nationally and was second overall in the Pac-12 with 114 tackles and four sacks. Overall he has 159 total tackles with 15 tackles for loss and six sacks in 21 games.
Gabriel and Arlene Sewell have five children, four sons and a daughter. From American Samoa, the family moved to Utah to help their kids pursue football. Noah followed his big brother Penei to Oregon.
”When it came down to it, my decision was my brother. I just wanted to learn from my brother, his game, how he approached it. As you can see, he’s doing amazing things right now, and I still want to learn from him,” Noah Sewell said.
Penei played for Oregon from 2018 to 2020. He won the Morris and Outland trophies as a sophomore in 2019, then sat out the coronavirus-shortened season in 2020 before declaring for the NFL draft.
The seventh-overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, Penei started 16 games for the Lions his rookie season.
Noah and Nephi played on opposites sides last year when Utah routed Oregon 38-7 in the regular season, and again when the Utes beat the Ducks 38-10 in the Pac-12 championship game.
Nephi, named to the AP All-Pac-12 first team, was picked up by the Saints in May as an undrafted free agent.
There are other family ties spread across the Pac-12 this season:
LAST BARTON
Much like Noah is the last of the Sewell brothers, Utah freshman linebacker Lander Barton is the youngest of the Barton brothers, who were all Utes. Cody is a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks and Jackson is an offensive tackle for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Utah is truly a family affair for the Bartons: dad Paul also played football and baseball for the Utes and mom Mikki was a…