Rimington Returns for Football and Fundraising

Byline: By Brent Wasenius, Fremont Tribune
Dateline: Fremont, NE

In New York, Dave Rimington can blend in with a crowd, but when he returns to his native Nebraska his chances for obscurity evaporate.

“It’s been almost 20 years since I left and people here still talk about the two Outland Trophies,” said Rimington, a two-time All-American center during his football career at the University of Nebraska.

“For the life of me, I never thought anyone would remember, but when I come back people are like, ‘Hey, you’re Dave Rimington.’ In New York, no one knows me,” he said.

Rimington, who also won the Lombardi Trophy while at NU, was in Fremont from Monday through Wednesday conducting his football camp, which benefits the Nebraska chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“I like coming back to Nebraska,” the one-time Omaha South High School standout said. “Nebraska fans have been very good to me over the years.”

In 1983, Rimington was drafted in the first round of the National Football League draft by Cincinnati. During his career with the Bengals, he became friends with quarterback Boomer Esiason, whose son, Gunnar, has cystic fibrosis.

About eight years ago, the two former teammates started the Boomer Esiason Foundation to raise funds to research the disease. Rimington, the foundation’s president, said so far about $12.5 million has been raised.

The job keeps Rimington busy enough that he doesn’t miss competing in the sport that he played professionally for seven seasons with the Bengals and Philadelphia.

“It’s a great sport because you can take people big or small and find a spot for them,” he said. “What I miss is the friendships you develop with teammates and the process of preparing for games. I know I could never do it again, so I don’t think about it much,” Rimington said.

Rimington paid a physical price on the field. He has had 15 operations, including several on his knees and elbows. The injuries, however, haven’t affected his daily routine.

“I’m still in pretty good shape and I can still do just about everything I want to do. It just takes me a little longer,” he said with a laugh.

“I’m stubborn enough to do what I want to do. I feel good,” he said.

Rimington was one of the first collegiate linemen to weigh 300 pounds, but that figure is now much more of a standard than a rarity.

“When I was playing, there was a lot more pulling and trapping by the linemen,” he said. “Now the emphasis is on the inside zone. What you see now is five huge bodies moving one direction with a back looking for some room. You don’t see, I don’t believe, the traps and the guards pulling as much as you used to see,” he said.

“I think it has to do with the size. Running is not the forte for guys 6-foot-6, 340 pounds,” Rimington said.

Rimington still follows Nebraska and kept a close watch on Dominic Raiola, the Huskers’ All-American center from last year. Raiola, now with the Detroit Lions, skipped his final season of collegiate eligibility to turn professional, something Rimington considered following his junior season of 1981.

“Dominic will do fine. I have a lot of respect for his abilities. I had won the Outland and I had a history of bad knees,” Rimington said.

“I was afraid that I might not get my shot because of my knee problems, but it was untested waters back then and I didn’t want to be one of the first to try it. I came back, and I’m glad I did because I think I needed the seasoning,” he said.

In 1982, the Huskers rolled to a 12-1 record with a roster that also featured Mike Rozier, Roger Craig, Turner Gill, Jamie Williams and another future Outland winner, Dean Steinkuhler.

Nebraska’s only loss was a 27-24 setback at Penn State where two late controversial calls went against the Huskers.

“It was just one of those things that happened,” Rimington said. “If you try as hard as you can and it doesn’t work out, you don’t feel that awful.”

“After the game, Coach (Tom) Osborne told us that you can never have your
fate determined by an official. You have to score points. We didn’t play well in
the first half of that game,” Rimington said.

Osborne now makes his living designing bills rather than playbooks as a
Nebraska congressman. Rimington was glad his former coach entered politics.

“I was happy because the way politics are, you really want your best people out there,” he said.

“I don’t think people realize how smart the guy really is. He has great character and that is the type of person you want in Washington,” Rimington said.

Rimington Shares Football’s Lessons Former Husker center stresses discipline, persistence, teamwork while helping at camp

Omaha World-Herald
July 8, 1999, Thursday Sunrise Edition
Section: Sports; Pg. 25
Byline: Shannon Heffelfinger

For more than a decade, Dave Rimington learned life’s lessons from an unlikely teacher - football.

Wednesday, he preached the lessons of discipline, persistence and teamwork to others during the Dynamic Sports International youth football camp at Omaha Skutt High School.

Adhering to those principles helped Rimington find success on the field with an eight-year NFL career and off the field, where he raises millions of dollars for cystic fibrosis research.

“I firmly believe that kids want discipline,” said Rimington, a former Nebraska center who won the Outland Trophy in 1981 and 1982 and the Lombardi Award in 1982. “They want someone to say, ‘Hey you need to be here every day at 8 a.m.’ It’s human nature to bend the rules. But on the football field, you can’t do that.”

Rimington joined camp director and former NU wide receiver Rod Smith, current Husker quarterback Eric Crouch and several local coaches for the three-day fundamentals camp. The camp attracted nearly 180 boys ages 8 to 14.

“ ‘The dog ate my homework’ or ‘My alarm didn’t go off’ doesn’t work,” Rimington said. “You have teammates relying on you to do your job, and if you don’t, you could be severely injured.. The discipline and the lessons you learn in football can apply to the business world and other parts of life.”

Obviously, Rimington learned well.

The Omaha South High School product’s NFL career included a five-year run with the Cincinnati Bengals before a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles.

While playing for the Bengals, Rimington became friends with quarterback Boomer Esiason. Their friendship indirectly led to the current success Rimington enjoys as president of the Heroes Foundation for Cystic Fibrosis.

Esiason created the foundation when his son, Gunnar, was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis in 1993. The foundation raises money to research the disease, which affects the respiratory and digestive systems.

Esiason asked Rimington - who was planning to take a job overseas - to be the foundation’s president. Under the direction of Rimington, who earned a master’s degree in international business from Wisconsin, the foundation raised more than $ 2 million last year.

Rimington has always viewed his post as a business endeavor. But when his 26-year-old friend recently died from the disease, Rimington’s role in the foundation became personal as well.

“It was really the first time anyone close to me has died,” Rimington said. “There’s nothing harder than seeing a kid grasping for air. We have to have faith that money and science will find a cure.”

Crouch, who has helped with Smith’s camp for three years, said Rimington’s caring attitude has been apparent this week in Omaha.

“You always hear that when guys get done with the NFL, they don’t want to have anything to do with football,” Crouch said. “But he’s out here working with the kids and having a good time. He’s a really nice guy, and he sets a good example to follow.”

Rimington joins Jake Plummer, Ed McCaffrey and other NFL players who have participated in Smith’s DSI camps.

“Some guys, you can tell that they’re just there to sign autographs,” said Smith, who began conducting the camps in 1991. “But Dave really gets in there and helps the kids. And he’s such a big name that they still know him. Dave is the greatest offensive lineman in the history of college football.”

Things have changed on the football front for Rimington, who resides in New York City and hopes to work on Wall Street someday.

He sometimes watches the NFL playoffs, and he travels to Nebraska for Husker games every now and then. He stays away from most organized football.

But Rimington said he has enjoyed his time at the DSI camp. Rimington has fun teaching the youths, and he plans to donate his share of the camp proceeds to Bellevue West, Omaha Burke, Skutt and South.

“I guess this camp is a way for me to give back something - to help kids and teach what I’ve learned,” Rimington said. “You learn from your mistakes. The main thing is to persevere.”