Seeman attended Plainview High School in
Plainview, Minnesota, where he was a standout athlete in
football,
basketball, and
baseball. Later, while attending
Winona State University in
Winona, Minnesota, he played quarterback for three years and played basketball for two years before graduating in 1957 with a degree in mathematics. From 1963 to 1972, Seeman officiated high school football and basketball games in Minnesota for the
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) and Wisconsin for the
Wisconsin State University Conference (WSUC). He also taught mathematics at
Central High School in
La Crosse, Wisconsin. In 1972, Seeman accepted a position as referee in the
Big Ten Conference (alongside another future NFL referee,
Jerry Markbreit), where he would stay until being hired by the NFL in 1975. In his first year in the NFL, Seeman worked as a line judge before moving to head linesman and eventually referee, a position he held from 1979 until the conclusion of the
1990 NFL season. His retirement from officiating in 1991 after serving as referee in Super Bowl XXV was prompted by being appointed to the Senior Director of Officiating by Commissioner
Paul Tagliabue, replacing
Art McNally, who spent 31 seasons as an NFL official and in the front office. On June 30, 2001, Seeman retired as Senior Director of Officiating and was succeeded by
Mike Pereira. Seeman was later employed by the NFL as an observer for Sunday games. During his career, Seeman officiated 15 playoff games, two
Pro Bowls, and two
Super Bowls. Seeman died of cancer on November 24, 2013, at his home in
Blaine, Minnesota. Seeman was married to Marilyn and had three sons: Jeff (NFL line judge since 2002, No. 45), Jon, and Michael. ==Awards==