For one glorious autumn, there was no bigger action figure in high school football than the one nicknamed “Mighty Mouse.” From a 330-yard, 4-touchdown performance in the season opener to 276 yards gained in the CIF-Southern Section Division IV championship game at Arroyo High School, Tyler Ebell zig-zagged his way to a once-in-a-lifetime season, where he remains atop the CIF-Southern Section record books in single season: points scored, touchdowns and yards per game.
USA Today featured the Ventura High running back on the front page of its sports section. ESPN sent film crew to chronicle his feats—for good reason. All that Tyler did that season was set state records for 4,494 yards rushing – No. 3 on the all-time national list – 64 touchdowns and 388 points. In leading Ventura to the section championship, Tyler rushed for 300 or more yards in 10 of the team’s 14 games. For his career, Tyler finished with 7,385 yards rushing and 111 touchdowns. He was also an all Channel League selection and three-year starter on the Cougar boys’ basketball team.
The postseason honors were numerous: Ventura County Star player of the year, L.A. Times Southern California player of the year, Division IV offensive player of the year, Cal-High Sports state player of the year, Parade Magazine All-American, Student Sports Senior All-American, Prep Star All-American, National High School Athlete of the Year by the National High School Coaches Association and was the first high school Heisman Trophy winner.
At UCLA, Tyler set a UCLA freshman season rushing record with 994 yards, ranked fourth in the PAC-10 in scoring and fifth in scoring in 2002. He became the first freshmen in school history to rush for at least 100 yards six times (all consecutive) in a single season. He was recognized by The Sporting News with second team All-America honors. Additionally, he was voted second team All Pac-10 and UCLA’s offensive rookie of the year. After three years at UCLA, Tyler transferred to UTEP where he amassed 786 all-purpose yards in seven games and missed the rest of the season due to injury.
Injuries limited him to three seasons in the Canadian Football League, ending in 2009 with the BC Lions and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Since retiring from football, Tyler became a deputy with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Tyler and his wife Adriana are the parents of Tyler Jr. and Marielena.