Rhein Fire

Rhein Fire
Helmet 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) World Bowl VI (1998) World Bowl VIII (2000)

The Rhein Fire was a professional American 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.

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 is based in an area of Germany that does not have a local Bundesliga team and where American Football has become increasingly popular. 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)
• 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)
• Danny Wuerffel (2000)
• Eduardo Castañeda (2007)

Other notable personnel

• Oliver Luck – General Manager 1995, became league president the following year.
• Ken Karcher – Assistant coach for the Fire, was previously an NFL replacement player and later became a collegiate head coach.

References

1. "Team Colors – NFLE". SSUR.org. Retrieved 2010-02-17.