Grads still savor Tangerine win, lives of education
Fifty-two years have passed since UNO's football team
last went undefeated, capping their perfect campaign with the sweetness of a
Tangerine Bowl victory.
It's a sweetness still savored
by those who played in the game, including a handful of College of Education
graduates who gathered on campus recently during a sweltering August weekday.
A stroll through the advertising
section of the 1955 Tomahawk yearbook hints at just how much time has passed
since then. Patrons include Alamito, Hotel Fontenelle, Peony Park and the
Eddy Haddad Orchestra. Names many perhaps have forgotten and which many more
never even knew.
But the Tangerine Bowl victory
endures — a benchmark of success for UNO teams ever since. Its immediate
significance to the university's athletic tradition was apparent in the
Tomahawk, which offered eight pages of photos devoted to OU's 7-6 win over
Eastern Kentucky.
"Every game we played was a
team victory," Line Coach Tom Brock says in the publication.
That unity remains evident
whenever Tangerine teammates reassemble. Dick Cotton can still hear team
captain Rudy Rotella: "We are family and we are going to kick butt when we
kick off Saturday."
They came to the university
without scholarships, but with a love of football and the athletic skills to
excel. They give much of the credit for their success to Head Coach Lloyd
Cardwell and his assistants.
But their successes extended
beyond the field that glorious autumn of 1954 to lifetimes of achievement.
Off the field successes
College of Education graduate
Bill Engelhardt, the team's leading rusher and scorer in 1954, parlayed his
degree into a successful business career. One of the first athletes to be
inducted into UNO's Athletic Hall of Fame, Engelhardt joined Rotella as a
Little All-American that season. Coach Cardwell, a member of the College of
Education faculty, joined them on the All-American squad as honorary coach.
Emil Radik, OU's second
leading rusher and scorer, earned his diploma from the College of Education
then reported to training camp with the Baltimore Colts after being drafted
by that team in the 11th round. He later became an Omaha Police Officer then
served four years with the U.S. Air Force, including time with the
All-Service Football Team. After the Air Force he returned to the Colts then
served again with the Omaha Police Department.
Like Engelhardt, Radik entered
the business world. Following his work on the police force he spent 10 years
in the heating and air conditioning wholesale business. He left to complete
his master's work at UNO, then began a 28-year career as a teacher and
student personnel assistant with Omaha Public Schools. Radik's name still is
appearing on the sports pages, most recently for winning the Masters Flight
of the Omaha World-Herald Publinks Golf Tournament.
Rudy Rotella, the team's most
valuable player, also was an 11th-round draft choice, by the San Francisco
49ers. He spent his education career with Bellevue Public Schools, serving as
a teacher, coach and high school athletic director.
Arnold "Arnie" Smith also
taught with the Bellevue Public Schools and served as a high school athletic
director.
Pete Rigatuso, OU's third
leading rusher, was a teacher with Omaha Public Schools then served numerous
years as a student personnel assistant. His two sons both were outstanding
wrestlers for UNO. Now retired, he
still works part-time at the downtown YMCA as the men's physical fitness
director. Ever modest and quick-witted, Rigatuso is the self-appointed
"president" of the fitness center, meaning, he says, that he washes and dries
towels and scrubs the floor.
Richard "Dick" Cotton, OU's
consistent scoring threat as a receiver, was well known to 30 years of
students at Omaha Burke High School, where he was an assistant principal at
the school's opening and an athletic director for several years. He taught
for five years prior to entering administration. He is proud that he often is
referred to as "Barney Cotton's father." Barney is well known as a former
Husker and professional football player and as a coach for Nebraska and Iowa
State.
Cotton, like many others from
the '54 squad, keeps active on the golf course. He also works part time for a
security company, using skills he honed as an assistant principal.
Dick Tannahill began his
education career after serving with the U.S. Army from 1956 through 1958,
some of that time spent in Korea. He taught science and was a successful
coach at Columbus. Tannahill later worked for Bellevue Public Schools before
spending 24 years at Council Bluffs Lewis Central High School, where he
finished his career as an associate principal. He now works part time at
Bluffs Run Casino.
Tannahill remembers that the
bowl game was rather quick thanks to few penalties and many running plays. He
recalls that only 18 players participated in the Tangerine Bowl as it was the
"order of the day" to play both defense and offense.
Younger than the others mentioned
in this article, who were seniors in 1954, Bob Trumbauer remembers the 1954
campaign as a great opportunity to play as a freshman on an undefeated team
with a great bunch of guys. He remembers how involved his parents became
attending games, including the bowl game in Orlando, and getting to know all
of the players.
Trumbauer began teaching math
and coaching at Omaha Technical High School, where one of his players
included future Nebraska great Johnny Rodgers. Trumbauer followed his years
of teaching in administrative assignments, including stints as a student
personnel assistant and as an assistant principal at Omaha North High School.
He also worked in the OPS central office developing and delivering training
programs in effective discipline.
The lasting friendship of team
members and the loyalty to others on the team are indicators of why the 1954
OU squad succeeded on the gridiron and why so many team members have been
successful leaders in schools. When asked what they remember about the game
and the season, they point to the satisfaction of victory and to the pride in
being undefeated—a university mark that still stands.
Most of all, though, the group
remembers the togetherness and accountability to others — qualities they have
carried with them and that they value today.
Tangerine Bowl on the Internet
Want to watch the Tangerine
Bowl? Download a video file (no audio) of game footage and of activities
leading up to the event at this link:
http://137.48.104.14:8080/ramgen/alumni/tangerinebowl1955.rm
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