Upper Iowa University Athletics Hall of Fame
Larry Nemmers, a member of the 1965 graduating class, was a four-year letter winner in football. He has a solid career as a running back, defensive back and kick returner. He holds the season point-after-touchdown record missing only 13 attempts in 46 tries, and he earned the longest interception run back for a touchdown of 94 yards. Both records were set in 1964. The former Waterloo Columbus all-state star also participated in baseball and basketball while at UIU.
Following graduation, he tried out with the Chicago Bears and San Diego Chargers. He played semi-pro with football with the Chicago Owls and Joliet Explorers, where he was named the team’s MVP in 1966.
He taught science for several years at Kimball Junior High, Larkin High and Elgin Community College.
After obtaining a master’s degree in secondary administration and certification of advanced study from Northern Illinois, Nemmers was named the assistant principal at Lankin High School. Later, he held the same position in Elgin, Illinois. He is presently the president at Elgin, Ill.
Nemmers has also established a career in officiating. He has been a high school football and basketball official for 18 years and he worked as the Illinois High School Rules Interpreter for 15 years. That was before serving as an official for both the Mid-Continent and Mid-Western Collegiate conferences. For nine years he was a Big Ten official and in 1984 he officiated the Rose Bowl game between Illinois and UCLA.
For the past nine years he has been a National Football League official and has worked the league’s playoffs for eight of those nine seasons. In 1991, Nemmers officiated Super Bowl XXV between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills. After six seasons as a side judge, he became a referee and crew chief in 1991.
