Rhein Fire

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Year Founded 1995 Home Field LTU Arena City Düsseldorf, Germany Team Colors Maroon, Black, Gold and White Head Coach Jim Tomsula Championships 2 (1998, 2000)

The Rhein Fire is a franchise in NFL Europe, formerly the "World League of American Football". Established in Germany in 1995, depending on your view the franchise either was the resurrected and relocated Birmingham Fire of the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons, or was a new and separate franchise.

The team is based in Düsseldorf, returning there for the 2005 season having played its home games in the Arena AufSchalke in the nearby city of Gelsenkirchen for two years while the "LTU Arena" (the stadium it shares with the football (soccer) club Fortuna Düsseldorf) was being built on the site of the Rheinstadion, torn down in 2002. The Fire also hosted the 2005 World Bowl, where the Amsterdam Admirals upset the then-defending champion Berlin Thunder.

The Rhein Fire has arguably been one of NFL Europe's most successful teams with regard to both fan appeal and competitively on the field, where it has played for five World Bowl championships, winning in 1998 (over the Frankfurt Galaxy) and 2000 (over the Scottish Claymores).

As with all teams in NFL Europe, the roster of players is predominantly comprised of American "developmental" players assigned by the member teams of the National Football League. These players live in Europe during the springtime season, as do their coaches, with their living expenses paid by the NFL in addition to their salaries, which are meager by professional sports standards. There are a small, but growing, number of "position players" of European extraction as well, and also European kicking specialists.

Head Coaches

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• Galen Hall (1995-2000)
• Pete Kuharcek (2001-2005)
• Jim Tomsula (2006-)

Notable players

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• Manfred Burgsmüller (1996-2002)
• Byron Chamberlain (1996)
• Bill Schroeder (1997)
• Mike Croel (1998)
• Patrick Gerigk (1998)
• Mike Quinn (1998)
• Marcus Robinson (1998)
• Danny Wuerffel (2000)
• Michael Lewis (2001)
• Jamal Robertson (2002)

Season-By-Season

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Rhein Fire (World League) 1995 4 6 0 5th League -- 1996 3 7 0 6th League -- Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) 1997 7 3 0 1st League Lost World Bowl V (Dragons) 1998 7 3 0 1st League Won World Bowl VI 1999 6 4 0 3rd League -- 2000 7 3 0 1st League Won World Bowl VIII 2001 5 5 0 3rd League -- 2002 7 3 0 1st League Lost World Bowl X (Thunder) 2003 6 4 0 2nd League Lost World Bowl XI (Galaxy) 2004 3 7 0 5th League -- 2005 3 7 0 6th League -- 2006 6 4 0 3rd League -- Totals 66 59 0 (including playoffs)

External links

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• Rhein Fire web site (German)
• Fire-Universe Fanzine (German)
• NFL Europe: Rhein Fire (English)
• Videos from Rhein Fire (English)

American football in Germany | Düsseldorf | NFL Europe teams

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