Rhein Fire
The Rhein Fire was a professional football team in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former Birmingham Fire team which was active during the 1991–1992 WLAF seasons.
| Rhein Fire | |
|---|---|
 Rhein Fire logo | |
| Year founded | 1995 |
| Year retired | 2007 |
| Home field | LTU arena |
| City | Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Team colors | Maroon, Black, Gold, White[1] |
| Championships | |
World Bowls (2)
| |
History
The team was based in Düsseldorf (and early on was occasionally referred to in the U.S. as the Düsseldorf Fire), playing its games in LTU arena since 2005 season. Prior to this the team played in Rheinstadion until 2002 and in Arena AufSchalke from 2003 to 2004 in nearby city Gelsenkirchen while LTU arena was being built. The team shared facilities with the football (soccer) club Fortuna Düsseldorf. The Fire also hosted the 2005 World Bowl, where the Amsterdam Admirals upset the then-defending champion Berlin Thunder.
The Fire had been one of NFL Europa's most successful teams as far as fan appeal and competitively on the field. The team itself has played for five World Bowl championships throughout its history, winning in 1998 (over the Frankfurt Galaxy) and 2000 (over the Scottish Claymores).
Season-by-season
| Season | League | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| 1995 | WLAF | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 1996 | WLAF | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 6th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 1997 | WLAF | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Barcelona Dragons in World Bowl '97 |
| 1998 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 2nd (League) | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | World Bowl '98 champions |
| 1999 | NFLE | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 2000 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st (League) | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | World Bowl 2000 champions |
| 2001 | NFLE | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 2002 | NFLE | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 1st (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Berlin Thunder in World Bowl X |
| 2003 | NFLE | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 2nd (League) | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to Frankfurt Galaxy in World Bowl XI |
| 2004 | NFLE | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 5th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 2005 | NFLE | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 6th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 2006 | NFLE | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 3rd (League) | – | – | — | — |
| 2007 | NFLE | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 4th (League) | – | – | — | — |
| Total | 68 | 62 | 0 | .523 | 2 | 3 | .400 | |||
Coaching history
Head coaches
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Postseason | Achievements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | GC | Won | Lost | Win % | ||||
| 1 | Galen Hall | 1995–2000 | 60 | 34 | 26 | 0 | .567 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .667 | 2 World Bowl championships (1998, 2000) World League Coach of the Year (1997) NFL Europe Coach of the Year (2000) |
| 2 | Pete Kuharchek | 2001–2005 | 50 | 24 | 26 | 0 | .480 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | — |
| 3 | Jim Tomsula | 2006 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | – | – | – | — | — |
| 4 | Rick Lantz | 2007 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | – | – | – | — | — |
Assistant coaches
- Antonio Anderson (2006)
- Bart Andrus (2000)
- Mike Bender (2001)
- Booker Brooks (2001)
- Steve Carson (1996–1997)
- Wes Chandler (1995–1997)
- Joe Clark (2001)
- Ken Clarke (2004–2005)
- Stan Davis (2007)
- A. J. Duhe (1995)
- Don Eck (2007)
- Tom Everest (2002)
- Barry Foster (2003)
- Sascha Gehloff (2005–2007)
- Brian Webb (2006)
- Alvin Harper (2005)
- James Harrell (2004)
- Bernardo Harris (2007)
- Mike Jones (1998–2000, 2002–2003)
- Whitey Jordan (1998–2000, 2002–2004)
- E. J. Junior (2005)
- Ken Karcher (1997–1999)
- Pete Kuharchek (1996–2000)
- Bob Lancaster (2006)
- Pete Levine (1996)
- Steve Logan (2006)
- Bob Lord (1997)
- Duval Love (2006)
- Jörn Maier (2001–2004)
- Vince Marrow (2007)
- Guy McIntyre (2002)
- Scott Milanovich (2003–2005)
- Larry New (2007)
- Jeff Ogden (2004)
- Kevin O'Neal (2004–2005)
- Ed O'Neil (2001–2003)
- Nate Poole (2007)
- Jan Quarless (2005)
- Jeff Reinebold (1995, 1999–2000)
- Walter Rohlfing (1995–2000)
- Steve Smith (2006)
- Don Strock (1995)
- Gary Tranquill (2007)
- Dean Unruh (1995–1996)
- Adrian White (2001–2006)
Notable players
Richard Adjei (2004–2007)- Ingo Anderbrügge (2003–2004)
Cedric Bonner (2006–2007)- Manfred Burgsmüller (1996–2002)
- Byron Chamberlain (1996)
- Derrick Clark (1996–1999)
- Mike Croel (1998)
- Terry Crews (1995)
- Nick Ferguson (1998)
- Patrick Gerigk (1998)
- James Harrison (2004)
- Drew Henson (2006)
- Andy Kelly (1996)
- Fred Jackson (2006)
- Michael Lewis (2001)
- Mike Quinn (1998)
- Marcus Robinson (1998)
- Jamal Robertson (2002)
- Bill Schroeder (1997)
- Gino Torretta (1995)
- Tony Wragge (2006)
- Danny Wuerffel (2000)
Tamon Nakamura (1998-1999)- Akihito Amaya (2001-2002)
- John David Washington (2007)
Other notable personnel
- Alexander Leibkind – General Manager 1996–2004
- Ken Karcher – Assistant coach for the Fire, was previously an NFL replacement player and later became a collegiate head coach.
- Oliver Luck – General Manager 1995, became league president the following year.