When Erik Seals took an overseas assignment with the Air Force, young Tyler learned to take on additional responsibilities at home.

"My dad sacrifices a lot. He took overseas assignments so that we could stay here instead of moving around. That helped me be a leader," said Seals, who developed into a top quarterback for Bellevue West.

"He was in Iraq the beginning of my sophomore year," Seals added. "He's in air traffic control, so for the most part, he was out of harm's way as much as you can be over there."

His willingness to help his family translated into a good thing on the football field. Tyler Seals is honored today, along with linebacker Charlie Viers of Class A champion Millard West, as honorary captains of the Lincoln Journal Star Super-State team.

Neither Seals nor Viers has committed to a football scholarship, but Seals has an official visit set at Nebraska.

Seals said he learned about being a quarterback from his dad, who was a high school quarterback in Kentucky.

"All of the people who helped me - Coach (John) Faiman, Coach (Dave) Starke and my dad - were quarterbacks," said Seals, who set school records for single-season (2,909) and career (5,357) passing yards as well as season (31) and career (60) touchdown passes.

"I guess the numbers are kind of up there," said Seals, who is quick to credit his teammates. "Without them, I wouldn't have been able to put that together.

"When you look at it that way, it shows how hard everybody worked together."

Viers is similarly team oriented.

"All the linebackers I played with, you couldn't ask for anything more than they were. And the d-line played great to make our job easy," Viers said. "The secondary made big plays all the time.

"All of us guys on defense hang out together outside of football. Playing with them for four years, it was like playing with a brother next to you."

Viers comes by his love of football naturally. His father, Perry, played at Kansas State and his cousin, Trevor Viers, currently plays for the Wildcats. Charlie's brother, Boyd, played at Iowa State and is now in medical school.

"My brother and dad were the first ones I talked to about football," Viers said. "They would critique me if I was doing something wrong, but they were always the first to praise me if I was doing it right."

Reach Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.