Rhein Fire (NFL Europe)

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Infobox American football team The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, 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 the team was occasionally referred to in the U.S. as the Düsseldorf FireTemplate:Cn), playing at the Rheinstadion until 2002. After the demolition of the Rheinstadion, the team moved to nearby Gelsenkirchen and played at Arena AufSchalke for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The team returned to Düsseldorf for the 2005 season, playing at the newly constructed LTU Arena. The Fire would remain at the LTU Arena until NFL Europe's dissolution in 2007.

The Fire hosted the World Bowl a record five times: in 1999 and 2002 at the Rheinstadion, in 2004 at Arena AufSchalke, and in 2005 and 2006 at the LTU Arena.

The Fire were one of NFL Europe's most successful teams in terms of fan support and on-field success.Template:Cn The team itself played for five World Bowl championships throughout its history, winning in 1998 over the Frankfurt Galaxy and 2000 over the Scottish Claymores. They lost to the Barcelona Dragons in 1997, the Berlin Thunder in 2002, and the Galaxy in 2003.

Season-by-season

Season	League	Regular season					Postseason
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
1995	WLAF	4	6	0	.400	5th Template:Small	–	–	—	—
1996	WLAF	3	7	0	.300	6th Template:Small	–	–	—	—
1997	WLAF	7	3	0	.700	1st Template:Small	0	1	.000	Template:Small
1998	NFLE	7	3	0	.700	2nd Template:Small	1	0	1.000	Template:Small
1999	NFLE	6	4	0	.600	3rd Template:Small	–	–	—	—
2000	NFLE	7	3	0	.700	1st Template:Small	1	0	1.000	Template:Small
2001	NFLE	5	5	0	.500	3rd Template:Small	–	–	—	—
2002	NFLE	7	3	0	.700	1st Template:Small	0	1	.000	Template:Small
2003	NFLE	6	4	0	.600	2nd Template:Small	0	1	.000	Template:Small
2004	NFLE	3	7	0	.300	5th Template:Small	–	–	—	—
2005	NFLE	3	7	0	.300	6th Template:Small	–	–	—	—
2006	NFLE	6	4	0	.600	3rd Template:Small	–	–	—	—
2007	NFLE	4	6	0	.400	4th Template:Small	–	–	—	—
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	Template:Small
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

• Template:Flagicon Richard Adjei (2004–2007)
• Template:Flagicon Ingo Anderbrügge (2003–2004), former Schalke 04 soccer player, kicker during Fire's years in Gelsenkirchen
• Template:Flagicon Cedric Bonner (2006–2007)
• Template:Flagicon Manfred Burgsmüller (1996–2002), kicker and oldest professional American football player at age 52<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Template:Flagicon Byron Chamberlain (1996)
• Template:Flagicon Derrick Clark (1996–1999)
• Template:Flagicon Mike Croel (1998)
• Template:Flagicon Terry Crews (1995)
• Template:Flagicon Nick Ferguson (1998)
• Template:Flagicon Patrick Gerigk (1998)
• Template:Flagicon Steve Gleason (2001)
• Template:Flagicon James Harrison (2004)
• Template:Flagicon Drew Henson (2006)
• Template:Flagicon Andy Kelly (1996)
• Template:Flagicon Jeris McIntyre (2005)
• Template:Flagicon Fred Jackson (2006)
• Template:Flagicon Michael Lewis (2001)
• Template:Flagicon Mike Quinn (1998)
• Template:Flagicon Marcus Robinson (1998)
• Template:Flagicon Jamal Robertson (2002)
• Template:Flagicon Bill Schroeder (1997)
• Template:Flagicon Gino Torretta (1995)
• Template:Flagicon Tony Wragge (2006)
• Template:Flagicon Danny Wuerffel (2000)
• Template:Flagicon Tamon Nakamura (1998–1999)
• Template:Flagicon Akihito Amaya (2001–2002)
• Template:Flagicon John David Washington (2007)
• Template:Flagicon Herbert Linecker (1997-2003)

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.