Escambia County Blue Devils defensive lineman Tyler Nero might receive the opportunity of a lifetime in the coming weeks or months.

Nero, a junior at ECHS, is one of 15 high school football players from the state to be nominated for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl to be played in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012.

The nominations, which are not invitations to the games, are submitted by coaches in each state and represent the Top 440 players in the nation.

For Nero, just being nominated is a great opportunity.

“I feel pretty good about it,” Nero said. “To be nominated out of 440 other people is a good feeling.”

Now that the nominations have been revealed, the invitation process begins in September.

Nero’s head coach, Mark Heaton, said the nominees go into a pool and are selected for the game.

“They go through local coaches to get nominees,” Heaton said. “Tyler and our defensive line have a good reputation right now in Alabama because of how hard they work, so that’s how a nomination was made. In September, the names go into a pool of the 440 and ultimately 90 will get inviations to the game. Just being nominated is quite an accomplishment.”

Even with another accomplishment, the ECHS student is not letting it go to his head.

“I try to keep a level head,” Nero said. “I know what brought me here and I’ll always keep that in mind. I’m glad this happened though, so it can help my teammates and get some of them guys the chance to play in college.”