DENNIS PFEFFER

Dennis Pfeffer was recruited to NU Rugby by a couple of UNL rugby heavyweights – Scott Carlson and Jim Cunningham – and learned the game from the club’s first two coaches, Dave Chechen and Adrian George.

He was used to contact as he had played football since about age seven, so his athleticism, in particular his hard running and game acumen made him a natural at winger, center and eventually his “home” as fullback.  “I really enjoyed the view of the game from the Fullback position,” said Pfeffer. 

His first game took place at NP Dodge Park in Omaha as he was thrust into the game before attending any practices as the team was short players.  As it happened, he “laid out a nice body block to open a hole for a fellow back and Coach Chechen immediately said to ‘stay down because, I was hurt.’”

A bewildered Dennis told Coach that he really felt fine and Chechen said – “No, STAY DOWN – you are hurt!” 

It was then that he learned the meaning of the phrase – “Teachable Moment,” and that blocks were not allowed.  Fortunately a year or two later, his next coach – Vince Powers – who was Dennis’ coach for the rest of his time at UNL, inherited a team that had a bit more knowledge of the rules of rugby.

During the spring of 1979 (through Spring ’82) he lived with Brad Bolton, Jim Larkin and others more transient in a house on 29th & O, which quickly became one of the team’s primary “Rugby Palace.” 

“Many a beer and song were shared at 29th & O!”

For a while there, they would do FAC at Sandy’s, head home for a nap, and wake around 11:00 pm to pick up the house, grab a keg (at either Mike’s or N Street) and party late into the morning hours.

“Believe it or not, it took us a while to figure out that our Friday night parties, though fun, weren’t conducive to winning rugby games on Saturday morning,” said Pfeffer with a smirk.

He was voted to the position of club president two consecutive years from fall 1980 to Spring ’82.  He felt this was a real honor, but this made him responsible for scheduling matches, washing jerseys and most importantly, filling the relationship management role with Dale Herman at D&D Distributing (the Lincoln Budweiser Distributor). Dale supplied the team with a keg of Michelob after all home matches; and multiple kegs of Michelob after the first two Husker Classic tournaments.

With help from many others on the club, Dennis established the 1st Annual Husker Classic Tournament in September, 1981.  The UNL squad took 2nd the 1st year (losing to the Air Force Academy in the finals), and won it in year two, when it was moved to the spring, beating the GOATS handily in the finals.

Many of the photos from this era, including some epic team pics at the Heart of America (October ’80), Omaha Tournament (April ’81) and the 2nd Annual Husker Classic were done with Dennis’ Pentax camera.

After graduating, Dennis joined the GOATS, where he played fullback and once again was relegated to scheduling responsibilities. He also played on a couple of Nebraska select sides, including a game against the NZ Puni’s.

He was much later an assistant coach for a high school team that his son (Jordan Pfeffer) played on with players from Skutt, Millard North and South high schools. Jordan played for NU in 2007- ‘08 at the inside and outside Center positions, and was their kicker, where he could hit from just about anywhere. His primary sport was soccer, which he went back to after displacing his nose, more than once.

Dennis’ favorite tournament had to be the Omaha Tournament of ’81, which was the first tourney championship ever won by a Husker team. “The feeling we had after winning that tournament was truly euphoric! It was a turning point for UNL Rugby, in that not only did we win most of our games, our players learned that if we unselfishly passed the ball and played as a Team, the tries would follow,” Said Dennis.

The team strategy was simple, win the scrum and get the ball out to the speedy/talented and deep stable of backs, which included: John McCann, Scott “Toad” Johnson, Lane Liley, Rob Martin, Greg Hand, Jim Larkin, Paul Tully, Craig Bagstad and John Avito. Danny McGuire was our Scrum half and made this happen.

Dennis said that there were too many to call one rugby memory a favorite, but the Party after the 1st Annual Husker Rugby Classic tournament on 9/26/1981 was epic. That day our Husker Football team played Penn State and NU lost 24 to 30 on the infamous out of bounds no call that gave PSU the win.

The post tourney party was held at 14th & P, above Jason’s (a clothing store), and two memories stuck in his mind from that party:

1. The concrete floor, when wet, was perfect for sliding and a bunch of primarily Air Force and NU players, in only their rugby shorts (if that), slid across the floor into chairs. Bruce Nelson, our campus Bud Rep at the time, recently shared that “actually – Jason’s filed a fairly large liability insurance claim against D&D Distributing for the damage done to Jason’s (ceiling/inventory).” Thankfully, no one on the team was held culpable.

2. The other story from that party involved Tim Flynn yelling out the window – LOSERS! To a group of NU Offensive Linemen, in reference to their loss to Penn State that day. Fortunately a few of us were sober enough to mediate the fallout of Tim’s comment and it was nothing less than a miracle that no one got hurt from that incident! Afterwards, Tim recalled – “I don’t know – I didn’t think they’d hear me!”

Dennis married Sue Archer on August 10, 1984 and Jim Cunningham sang at the wedding. She was a “rugger hugger” and lived a block from 29th & O, along with her friends Jane Halas, Mary Roh, Lori Eddy, Joe Orsi and Lori Pearman. Sue and Dennis met at a 29th & O rugby party and have been blessed with three great kids (Jordan, Kylie and Nate) and three granddaughters!

He began his career in public accounting before spending 10 years at Godfather’s Pizza working in finance for Herman Cain, followed by 26+ years in Production/Leadership roles in the P&C Insurance Industry.