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Pieffer feels the "Rush" at Arena Bowl XX

June 14, 2006 - United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Rock River Raptors News Release


Rockford, IL - While the Chicago Rush were preparing to face the Orlando Predators in the title game of the Arena Football League in Las Vegas, the team called on Rock River Raptor kicker Dillon Pieffer for some help in the kicking department. By the way, the Rush beat the Predators 69-61 to claim Arena Bowl XX.

Instead of risking injury to the only kicker on the Rush roster, Pieffer was brought in to kick for the Rush so Dan Frantz could rest his leg. It was a phone call by Frantz to his kicking coach, ex-NFL and AF2 kicker Louie Aguiar that helped get Dillon out to Vegas.

"Louie thought I was still living in Las Vegas (Pieffer's hometown)," Pieffer said. "So when Dan (Frantz) called him and asked him if I knew anyone that it was not an inconvenience for them to come out to Vegas and kick for him so he didn't hurt his leg. Louie thought I still lived in Vegas and it happened to work out."

Along with playing for the Chicago Bears, Aguiar spent time with the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs in his 10-year career .

In 2004, Aguiar came out of retirement to kick of the Peoria Pirates of the AF2.

Pieffer said that he noticed a difference kicking in the AFL as opposed to kicking in the UIF.

"In Las Vegas, the goalposts looked smaller because of the huge nets on the sides," Pieffer observed. "It was nice to kick like I was kicking outdoors, because I could hit it as hard as I wanted. It was different coming back here because it made the field look a lot smaller when we were playing Omaha. Everything was wide open because all you had was that little "u"."

One person that was impressed with Pieffer's kicking was Rush special teams coach Bruce Cowdrey.

"He (Cowdrey) told me that he has a lot of connections in the AFL and AF2 and would try his hardest to get me a look somewhere next season," Pieffer said. "That is all I asked for and that is the reason why I came out here (to kick for the Raptors) and that was to get looked at and to move up next season."

While the focus right now for Pieffer is Saturday night's home game against the Fort Wayne Freedom. There is something else that has Pieffer's attention. That is a certain soccer tournament going on in Germany.

"Since Ireland didn't qualify for the World Cup," Pieffer said. "I have been pulling for Germany. The problem is that our TV only has five channels and its not cable. So If I want to watch a match, I have to go to a pub or something to chill and hang out."

When asked if USA was going to advance out of the group stage, Pieffer got a big smile on his face and said "I don't know if people are going to like me if I say no."

Currently, Pieffer is ninth in the UIF in scoring with 98 points. He has connected on 36 percent of his field goals and has made 53-of-65 extra point attempts.

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United Indoor Football Association Stories from June 14, 2006


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