"Most days when he finished elementary school, Shaun Hill headed to Parsons High to spend time with his father, Ted, the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach at the Kansas school and one of Hill's closest friends.

"That was my babysitter," Hill said Tuesday. "Watching practice, goofing off on the sidelines and all that stuff so, yeah, he taught me everything.

"He always still wanted to be coach. Sometimes I would hate talking to him on Sunday after a game, but now I look back and just wish I could again. He was a remarkable man and a father figure to so many people other than just myself and my brother, so he'll be missed by many."

Speaking publicly for the first time since his father's death in January, Hill -- the Lions' backup quarterback who's a week removed from back surgery -- said he's still coming to grips with the biggest tragedy he has experienced.

"You sit there and you wonder if you're ever going to feel normal again," he said. "You forget what normal feels like after something like that happens, but I will say that at the end of it I feel very fortunate to have had 31 years with an unbelievable father. Very blessed about that."

Ted Hill died Jan. 29 after a fall while helping Shaun work on his Missouri home. Shaun witnessed the accident."