2002 Rhein Fire season

2002 Rhein Fire season
Head coach	Pete Kuharchek
General manager	Alexander Leibkind
Home field	Rheinstadion
Results
Record	7–3
Division place	1st
Playoff finish	Lost World Bowl X

The 2002 Rhein Fire season was the eighth season for the team in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Pete Kuharchek in his second year, and played its home games at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses. In World Bowl X, Rhein lost to the Berlin Thunder 26–20.

Offseason

Free agent draft

2002 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections

Draft order			Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice	Overall
1	4	4	Corey Callens	DE	Oklahoma
2	4	10	Damonte McKenzie	DE	Clemson
3	3	15	Ben Nichols	G	Colorado
4	4	22	Trey Merkens	LB	Texas-El Paso
5	3	27	Aaron Humphrey	DE	Texas
6	4	34	John Raveche	T	Princeton
7	3	39	Daniel Greer	DT	Arizona
8	3	45	Adam Newman	TE	Boston College

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Personnel

Staff

2002 Rhein Fire staff
	Front office General Manager – Alexander Leibkind Head coaches Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator – Pete Kuharchek Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike Jones Wide Receivers – Tom Everest Offensive Line – Whitey Jordan Offensive Line – Guy McIntyre			Defensive coaches Defensive Line/Special Teams – Ed O'Neil National Coach/Linebackers – Jörn Maier Defensive Backs – Adrian White Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Brian Ferguson

Roster

2002 Rhein Fire roster
	Quarterbacks 17 Tee Martin 11 Romaro Miller Running backs 25 Jamal Robertson 36 Tony Taylor Wide receivers 81 Corey Alston 80 Scott Cloman 84 Jermale Kelly 86 Onome Ojo  9 Jimmy Robinson Tight ends  1 Darnell Dinkins 83 David Newman 88 Mark Thomas		Offensive linemen 77 Ben Adams G 56 Jonathan Himebauch C 71 Alcender Jackson G 70 Ed Kehl OL 75 Dustin Keith C 76 Dustin Kroeker T 69 Mike Malano G/C 68 Josh Moore T/G 60 Patrick Venzke T Defensive linemen 92 Corey Callens DE 91 DeVone Claybrooks DT 90 Aaron Humphrey DE 96 Riley Kleinhesselink DE 97 Damonte McKenzie DT 95 Jon Michals DE 93 Brandon Miller DT		Linebackers 54 Tim Johnson OLB 52 Brad Rekuc OLB 57 Jamel Smith OLB 55 Maugaula Tuitele MLB Defensive backs 24 Greg Brown S 40 Deke Cooper S 28 Cedric Donaldson CB 33 Clinton Hart DB 38 Earthwind Moreland CB 27 Adrian Sadler CB 29 Chandler Smith CB 26 Jordan Younger DB Special teams  8 Dirk Johnson P 13 Jason Witczak K		National players  5 Akihito Amaya WR 15 Sumitaka Ando WR 10 Manfred Burgsmüller K 50 Anthony Doghmi DE 74 Peter Heyer OG 53 Shingo Hiruma LB 21 Oyeniran Olalere Odunayo Ojo RB 35 Richard Yancy S Rookies in italics

Standings

NFL Europe League
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Rhein Fire	7	3	0	.700	166	156	4–1	3–2	L1
Berlin Thunder	6	4	0	.600	231	188	3–2	3–2	W3
Frankfurt Galaxy	6	4	0	.600	189	174	3–2	3–2	L2
Scottish Claymores	5	5	0	.500	197	172	3–2	2–3	W1
Amsterdam Admirals	4	6	0	.400	218	202	2–3	2–3	W2
FC Barcelona Dragons	2	8	0	.200	202	311	1–4	1–4	L3

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Game summaries

Week 1: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week One: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	3	0	7	10
Amsterdam	3	17	7	0	27

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Date: Saturday, April 13
• Game time: 7:08 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 13,743
• Referee: Alberto Riveron

World Bowl X

World Bowl X: Berlin Thunder vs Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	13	7	3	3	26
Rhein	0	0	7	13	20

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, June 22
• Game time: 6:04 p.m. CEST
• Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), fair
• Game attendance: 53,109
• Referee: Walt Anderson
• TV announcers (FOX): Curt Menefee and Brian Baldinger

References

1. "NFL Europe League Free Agent Draft 2002". NFL Europe League. February 12, 2002. Archived from the original on August 17, 2002. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
2. "2002 NFLE Standings". The Football Database. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved June 6, 2011.