Although his occupational skills are honed in a weight room and at a training facility, Dominic Raiola's achievements as a professional football player come from family.

Since he was drafted in the second round out of Nebraska by the Detroit Lions in 2001, the 1997 Saint Louis School graduate has not missed any of the team's 112 games. Since his second season, he has made 96 consecutive starts, the second-longest streak among active NFL centers.

"A lot of my success in football has to do with my upbringing," Raiola said recently in a telephone interview. "(My parents) always pushed me through whatever I wanted to do. Not only my mom, dad. I mean, my wife (Yvonne), is awesome at home with the kids when I'm up here. It's a big part of where I am today."

For Raiola, the family support system has been All-Pro.

Since training camp is day-night affair with practices and meetings, Raiola spends little time at his Michigan home. Except for days off, he stays at a hotel near their training facility, he said. So his wife and three children — daughter Taylor, 6, and sons Dylan, 3, and Dayton, 10 months — stay in Hawai'i with his parents, Tony and Wendy Raiola, at their Kaimuki residence. They join Dominic when the season starts.

And the set up is perfect for Dominic's parents, who cherish the time they can spend with their grandchildren.

"I just love having them home," said Tony Raiola, 55, who earlier in the year accepted early retirement from Hawaiian Telcom after 29 years as a line worker.

Added Dominic: "When I'm at camp, I like it that they're home. My kids get to see their grandparents."

Still, when Dominic's family leaves here to join him in Michigan, it's just a matter or weeks before Tony and his wife, Wendy, see the grandchildren again. They just about alternate weekends traveling to where Dominic is playing. When the Lions are at home, Tony and Wendy also can see their daughter, Nicole (Sacred Hearts '03), the youngest of their children, because she also lives in Michigan.

"I look forward to my trips," Tony Raiola said.

Dominic said knowing his family is in the stands — "No matter how big the crowd, he always finds us (in the stands)," Tony said — gives him peace of mind.

"I enjoy it when they come to watch me play," he said. "It's part of the reason why I'm here. I'm happy when I see them in the crowd."

While at Nebraska, where Dominic played three years before declaring for the draft after his junior season, his parents were able to watch him play, in part thanks to extended family.

Tony's uncle, Jerome "Toots" Ka'ahanui, a Farrington graduate who lives in Oregon, worked as a ramp supervisor when Dominic was playing at Nebraska. To help Tony and Wendy make the trips to Lincoln, he offered them his "buddy passes" so they could at least fly free on the Los Angeles-to-Nebraska leg of the trips.

"It saved us big money," Tony said. "He took his shirt off his back for our family. When his kids were small, they used to come watch Dominic play at Nebraska."

One of Ka'ahanui's sons, now a high-school senior Zachary, is an offensive lineman at Central Catholic in Portland. So these days, Dominic sends Zachary shoes and equipment. Next month, Tony will spend even more time with family. He will watch Zachary play on Sept. 19 in Portland. He will then fly to San Francisco, where Dominic and the Lions will be playing the 49ers on Sept. 21. And Tony also is helping Zachary with football with the enthusiasm he had for his own sons.

"I talked to UH about him already, but they want to see tape on him," Tony said of Zachary. "Boise's after him, San Diego State, Portland. (Portland State Coach Jerry) Glanville already offered him (a scholarship)."

It's not just blood relatives who have helped Dominic. He said Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz (Saint Louis '95) and his family also were instrumental in his success. Kreutz, who is two years older than Dominic, were teammates one season at Saint Louis. Their progression since high school has been a near-mirror image. Kreutz went to Washington, where he as an All-American and declared for the draft after his junior year. Dominic was an All-American an at Nebraska and likewise left after his junior season. Both established themselves early in their pro careers and have been starters, coincidently, for rival teams in the NFC North.

"Olin's like a brother to me," Dominic said. "He set the parameters for my life. I saw him go to college, made All-American. Who better than to look up to? Even now I still look up to him."

When splitting their trips, Tony said his wife goes to both Lions and Bears game.

"She's like a second mother to Olin," said Tony, who also gave his wife the Super Bowl XLI ticket Kreutz gave him. "As much as I want to see him, I can sacrifice and let my wife see him play."

Even Kreutz's family has helped Dominic. The two men trained together since they were boys at Kreutz's grandfather's (George Perry) gym in Kuli'ou'ou. Dominic said Perry made sure the boys weren't cheated out of good workout.

"You didn't want to let him down," Dominic said of Perry. "He was a big part of workouts every day. Those values carried over to the field. It's real life. It's not 24-hour Fitness."

Of course, Dominic isn't the only Raiola in an NFL training camp. Younger brother Donovan (Kamehameha '01) is trying to make the cut for the Saint Louis Rams. Last season, Donovan played for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe's final season. Tony promised Donovan he would watch him play, even if it meant crossing two oceans and a continent. Tony described the trip as an adventure, nearly getting lost in the process, but thoroughly enjoyed his first experience in Europe.

But even before Tony's sons reached the NFL, they got an early taste of the pro game. When Tony worked as equipment manager for the Pro Bowl, he brought both boys along to help. While it was dirty work, it was still like Christmas Day. Dominic said he was too wide-eyed at the time to fathom the thought that the players directly inspired him to be one of them.

"I didn't think it was realistic to think like that," said Dominic, who was an A-minus student at Saint Louis and wise enough to understand the chances of being a pro. "It was more just being in awe to be with those guys. I'd grab all the shoes and gloves they would leave behind. At the time, I wasn't thinking that way."

While Kreutz has made the Pro Bowl six times in his 10-year career, Raiola is still awaiting his day. Raiola would rather see his team's fortune change for the better. In his seven seasons with the Lions, they have yet to post a winning season, so making the Pro Bowl isn't exactly a priority. At least not before winning.

"It would be awesome if Olin made it and I made it with him," Dominic said of making the Pro Bowl. "That would be special, I think. But that's more like personal goals more so than anything than the success of the team. If I left the NFL right now, I would be known as guy who played hard, but lost all seven years he was there."

But it would be seven years — and counting — of honoring a football family.