
Bob Stephens asked Revolution Wraps for its most outrageous design when he decided to turn his RV into a full-blown tailgater.
The first six years Bob Stephens drove his RV, when it was still all swirly blue and gold like every other land yacht, it didn’t turn heads.
Strangers didn’t pose for pictures. Fans of opposing teams didn’t wander over for beer and fajitas. Iowans didn’t give him the finger.
But that was before the roof blew off a nearby building and hit the 2005 Coachmen, requiring bodywork and a fresh paint job. His insurance company was ready to write a $5,500 check.
The construction company owner thought about it. He’s been a lifelong Nebraska fan; he remembers sitting with his Boy Scout troop at Memorial Stadium in 1959, watching the Huskers beat Oklahoma. (And he was in the stadium 50 seasons later, watching the Huskers beat Oklahoma again.)
He was already using the RV to tailgate on M Street. Why not make it look the part, even if he had to kick in some money?
So he approached Revolution Wraps with a simple request: “My instructions were, ‘Let’s take it over the top. Let’s think outrageous here.’ And I think they did.”
They returned with several options, and he chose a sinister, Blackshirts-inspired design. Skulls sunken inside helmets with the stadium in the background, jerseys numbered with Nebraska’s national championship years, every square inch of the 37-footer covered in black, red and white.

Bob Stephens shows off his 37-foot tailgating RV, which will take him and a group of other Nebraska fans to Colorado next week. "A few of them will stay back with the RV, in case anything happens."
And $12,000 later, it was done — just in time for Nebraska’s 2011 game against Ohio State. The rig has been turning heads since, whether he’s traveling to away games or just on vacation.
“It has become a magnet,” he said. “We had one little girl come up and say, ‘Is the team in there?’”
It’s not a high-tech tailgater. He doesn’t have five TVs and a keg cooler; he still fills coolers with ice and beer, and he hauls the one TV from inside the RV to the outside.
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But it can feed his family, friends and employees. He turned the passenger-side lower storage holds into an outdoor kitchen — he can lift the hatch and pull out a gas grill, refrigerator and microwave.

A mobile kitchen is hidden away beneath a compartment as part of Bob Stephens' tailgating RV.
He’s famous for his fajitas, but he grills burgers and brats, too. (He does not prepare the Mascot Menu he has posted over his kitchen: Herky Hawk Jerky, Fighting Illini Pizza Pie, Goldy Gopher Grits or Sparty Spare Ribs.)

The Big Ten Mascot Menu is for laughs only, Bob Stephens said. He's known for his fajitas.
The Coachmen has carried him 90,000 miles to 43 states. He’s tailgated outside a frat house in Fresno, California, and at UCLA, and he traveled to Texas for the Big 12 Championship Game against Oklahoma.
That’s about the only time he felt his RV was outgunned by the competition.
“They had some amazing rigs,” he said. “They were pulling smokers the size of pickups.”
He’s getting ready for the upcoming season. Saturday, he’ll fire up his grill on a lot he owns in the South Haymarket, on M Street.
And next week, he’ll head west for his RV’s inaugural trip to Boulder, Colorado. He already has a stack of buffalo burgers to grill.

Bob Stephens' RV draws attention wherever he goes, he said. In Iowa, people wave to him with their middle fingers.
Crazy Husker fans over the years
Larry the Cable Guy

Larry the Cable Guy poses with Kiss impersonators Steve Hernandez (from left), Brett Kay, Brett Gotch and Calvin Kramer, all from South Sioux City, on Oct. 31, 2009, at a game against Baylor in Waco, Texas.
Letting loose

A group of Husker fans let loose during the Big 12 Championship Game at Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 4, 2010.
JUST COOL IT

Nebraska fans Cody Siefker (left) and Corey Craig take a moment to cool down, take a break and vent some frustration at halftime during a game against Texas with Nebraska trailing 17-3 on Oct. 16, 2010, at Memorial Stadium.
Fan in balloons

Nebraska freshman Brad Merritt makes his way though Memorial Stadium on Sept. 10, 2011, with balloons to sell to the Husker faithful.
Volleyball

The kill signs were out in force as Nebraska's Gina Mancuso got another one against Penn State at the NU Coliseum on Sept. 21, 2011.
NU Fan Day, 8.18.18

A large inflatable of Herbie Husker dwarfs the large crowd on hand on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018, during Fan Day at Memorial Stadium.
Cornhead

NU sophomore Scott Mulholland gazes over Memorial Stadium on Oct. 8, 2011.
Fans

Nebraska fans try to fire up the team during the first quarter against Virginia Tech on Sept. 19, 2009, in Blacksburg, Va.
2017 SPORTS YEAR END

Nebraska fan Aloise Ferris (left) of South Sioux City, Neb. got up out of her wheelchair and danced with Herbie Husker as the Cornhusker Marching Band played as they awaited the team's arrival at the East Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 22, 2017, at Memorial Stadium.
Walking corn

Husker fans Noah Stieren (from left), Liz Schwanke, Ryan Stieren, Greg Schwanke and Nate Schultz walk from Cowboys Stadium to their hotel after showing up Dec. 3, 2010, for the Big 12 Championship Game in Dallas.
Go Big Red

There were Husker fans in attendance at the Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade, San Diego, Calif., on Friday, Dec. 26, 2014.
Crowd

A fan with a lone corn head cheers on the Huskers at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 19, 2011.
NU football

Husker fans Alec Hogan and Kyle Krowder cheer during the second quarter against Michigan State on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015, at Memorial Stadium.
Natilly dressed fans

Josh Van Dyke (left), Zach Beiermann and Dusty Cejka at Memorial Stadium, Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011.
Fan solo

One Husker fan had all the right moves, just no one to watch him, as he danced up a storm during a first-half timeout at the Nebraska women's basketball game against Creighton on Nov. 17, 2008.
BIRCH

Nebraska fan Aaron Birch cheers on the Huskers before the start of the Fiesta Bowl against Florida in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 2, 1996.
Nebraska vs. Illinois, 9/29/17

Nebraska fan Corey Nelson of Des Moines, Iowa, didn't last very long on a mechanical bull at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017.
Belly button

Chance Vadnas seems to enjoy getting his belly button painted by Pat Lane (left) as they prepare themselves for some serious fan support of the Huskers for their game against Texas Tech on Oct. 17, 2009, at Memorial Stadium. Nick Deeds paints the back side of Vadnas.
Husker Fans, 10/05/2013

The athletic department will spend $12.3 million to improve the sound system and Wi-Fi connectivity inside Memorial Stadium.
Corn cookout

Randy Johnson of Northville, Mich., has everything he needs as he prepares for Nebraska vs. Michigan at Michigan Stadium on Nov. 19, 2011.
Ohio State vs. Nebraska, 1.21.2012

Red Zone fans show their displeasure at a call against the Huskers during a game against Ohio State at the Devaney Sports Center on Jan. 21, 2012.
Suh

Nine-year-old Ryan Cooksley of Anselmo, Payden Borders, 10, from Broken Bow, and Griffin Wright, 8, also of Broken Bow, carry a message into Cowboys Stadium before the Big 12 Championship Game with Texas on Dec. 5, 2009, in Dallas.
Crowd

Nebraska fans filled more than half of the east grandstand at Baylor's Floyd Casey Stadium on Oct. 31, 2009, in Waco, Texas.
Waiting for tickets

David Hollingsworth of Omaha waits for his tickets to the Big 12 Championship Game at Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 4, 2010.
Memorial Stadium

A fan throws up the bones in the student section in the southeast corner of Memorial Stadium on Nov. 21, 2009.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7254 or psalter@journalstar.com.
On Twitter @LJSPeterSalter.