KEVIN “ALPHIE” MCDONALD

“Kevin McDonald was always a good guy to have on your side” said everybody who ever played the game of rugby.  Originally from Imperial, NE, “Rump” for the older generation, and “Alphie” for the younger, first discovered rugby at the New Mexico Military Institute in 1988. He played fullback in his first game, but switched to center the rest of his college playing days.  He would go on to play at UNL between 1989-’92. According to Kevin, “The fatter I got, the closer I got to the pack” and ended his career at second row.  

Some of his favorite tournaments were the Jackalope in Wyoming, the annual St. Paddy’s Day Tournament in O’Neal, Iowa 7’s, as well as Okoboji, where he remembers Chaffin’s arm flailing out of a collapsed tent in Okoboji.  Alphie also played rugby in Grand Junction CO, the Omaha GOATS, and a few select sides.  He officially hung up his boots around 2010.

He and his wife Angie, live in Elkhorn, NE and his door is, “always open for any of you, and there will always be a beer or whiskey with your name on it if you want to stop by.”  His oldest son Barrett, attended the Air Force Academy and played football there, but switched to rugby during his last two years of school.  He is now a 1st Lt. in Acquisitions and stationed at Peterson AFB.  Kevin’s middle daughter is Ellie who is a senior at UNL and plans on continuing her education in nursing. His youngest is Griffin, who is a three-sport athlete and a sophomore at Millard West High School where he plays middle linebacker for the varsity squad. 

Kevin works as an estimator and project manager for Dietzel Enterprises, a company that installs drilled caisson foundations for cell towers and transmission lines.