Twenty years after he graduated from Riverside in 2001, Jason Cavell owns two businesses, one that keeps the athletic fervor he displayed at Riverside and the University of Mount Union, and one that uses his university degree. But at anything he does, Jason credits “hard work and long hours” for his success, and certainly his football years taught him discipline and teamwork.
Jason perhaps learned his “hard work” ethic from Riverside football coach Don Andersen during his high school years, and the awards he earned are a testament to that ethic. At Riverside, Jason was not only on the offense team as a receiver and punt returner specialist, but he also played defense at the cornerback position. In those roles, he broke records for receptions, receiving yards, touchdowns and interceptions. Coach Andersen thought Jason was an outstanding player, saying that he could not let Jason off the field (thus playing both offense and defense) because he was so talented.
In his senior year at Riverside in 2000-2001, Jason was football team captain and Most Valuable Player, helping Riverside make the Division I playoff appearance. In that regular season, Jason caught 59 passes for 895 yards and was tied for the lead with seven interceptions. Jason earned recognition with citations as All-Ohio, All-News-Herald, All-Plain Dealer, and All-Conference Player of the Year awards. That year, the football team went 9 and 2. He also played point guard on the Riverside basketball team.
At the University of Mount Union, Jason studied business management and accounting, and excelled on the football field. He lettered in football all four years playing for the Purple Raiders, who were the 2001 and 2002 national champions in NCAA Division III. During those years at Mount Union, Jason was All-Conference for the Ohio Athletic Conference, and Mount Union won the conference championship each year. For Jason’s football career at Mount Union, he has the second place for the all-time record for punt return yardage – 94 carries for 987 yards, and third for number of punts returned for a touchdown. Jason graduated from Mount Union in 2005.
Today, Jason owns Ohio Payroll Plus LLC, which provides payroll, accounting, benefits administration and human resource services for small companies, and Crossfit Remix, where he is a licensed Crossfit trainer.
After college, Jason returned to Painesville and worked with his brother, Scott, a CPA, but soon created Ohio Payroll Plus. The company has clients in several states but most are in Ohio. The range of services offers things that only a business management college major would be interested in. For a small business that is usually started because of the passionate interest of the owners, those business management items are usually not in their knowledge base, or they don’t have the employees with the necessary skills. Ohio Payroll Plus allows the small business owners to concentrate on the things they love, not the paperwork.
But it is Crossfit Remix that Jason credits as the result of his football years that required physical conditioning and discipline to play and, even more, teamwork to succeed. The Crossfit training program is defined as a lifestyle rather than just physical fitness that emphasizes nutrition, varied physical training, recovery and rest, sleep, and accountability. The overall goal is not just physical fitness, but includes healthy living and mental fitness as well, a model that the Hall of Fame committee found exemplies Jason’s life.
Today, Jason and his wife Amanda, son Benjamin, and baby Cavell (expected in January) live in Concord. Jason is still involved with football, basketball and baseball in which he coaches his son.
