The Berlin Thunder were a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

History

The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games from 1999 to 2002 were played at

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sports complex covers an area of approximately 22 hectares and comprises ...

and one game in 2006.

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

was the home stadium from 2003 to 2007. They were the second team in league history to use the Thunder name, following the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992 (known as NFL Europe from 1995 onwards). The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and ...

from 1991 to 1992. The Thunder won the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

3 times:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

(a year that they went 9–1). They also made it to the World Bowl in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

but were defeated by the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, to ...

21–27. Two Berlin

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Rohan Davey Rohan St. Patrick Davey (born April 14, 1978) is a Jamaican-born former American football quarterback. He won two Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots, as the backup to Tom Brady in 2003 and 2004. Early years Davey attended Hialeah-Mi ...

(2004) and

Dave Ragone David Patrick Ragone (born October 3, 1979) is an American football coach and former player who is the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the Chi ...

(2005), were named NFL Europe Offensive

Most Valuable Players In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Rich Scanlon Richard James Scanlon (born December 23, 1980 in Oradell, New Jersey) is an American football linebacker. He was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Syracuse. Scanlon has also play ...

(2005) was named NFL Europe Defensive MVP. In 2006, the Thunder had three players earn All-NFL Europe honors:

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

Chad Beasley Thomas Chad Beasley (born November 13, 1978) is a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns. He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted in the seventh round of the ...

and

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

Anthony Floyd Anthony Franklin Floyd (born February 1, 1981) was a safety for the Indianapolis Colts. He spent 2006 NFL Europe season with the Berlin Thunder, where he earned All-NFL Europe honors after making four interceptions, tied for second in the leagu ...

earned all-league honors at their respective positions and German

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Christian Mohr Christian Mohr (born April 5, 1980) is an American football defensive end who played for the Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. Mohr was signed by the Düsseldorf Panther in 2001 to play ...

was honored as the national player on the defensive all-league team. On 1 April 2006, the Thunder recorded their first tie in franchise history. Trailing the Hamburg Sea Devils 17–0 at halftime, the Thunder erased their deficit to tie it up, going into overtime in which neither team could come up with a point. This was only the second tie in the history of NFL Europe. The previous tie came in the 1992 season between the

Birmingham Fire The Birmingham Fire were a professional American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. They were a member of the North American West division of the World League of American Football (WLAF) and played their home games at Legion Field. The cl ...

and the

London Monarchs The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

, also 17-17. An unrelated team of the same name is to play in the inaugural 2021 season of the new

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a professional sports#American football, professional American football sports league, league. The league (as of the 2023 season) consists of 17 teams located in Germany, Poland, Spain, Austria, Italy, S ...

Season-by-season

Head coaches

Notable players

* Richard Adjei – LB (2007) *

David Akers David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Washington Redski ...

– K (1999) *

Chris Barclay Chris Barclay (born October 15, 1983) is an American football coach and former running back who is the current running backs coach for the Louisville Cardinals. He played college football at Wake Forest. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as ...

– RB (2007) * Lang Campbell – QB (2005) *

Travis Lulay Travis may refer to: People and fictional characters *Travis (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Travis (surname), a list of people Places in the United States *Travis, Staten Island, a neighborhood *Travis Air Force Base, a ...

– QB (2007) *

– QB (2004) *

– S (2005) * Chas Gessner – S (2004) *

Ben Hamilton Benjamin Thomas Hamilton (born August 18, 1977) is a former American college and professional football player who was a guard and center in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Minn ...

– C (2002) *

Madre Hill Madre Hill (born January 2, 1976) is a former American football running back, playing last for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). Considered one of the greatest running backs to come out of the University of Arkansas, Hil ...

– RB (2001) *

Israel Idonije Israel Idonije (born November 17, 1980) is a retired Nigerian-Canadian defensive end in the National Football League and actor. Idonije was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Cleveland Browns out of the University of Manitoba. A draft pi ...

– DE (2004) *

– QB (2005) * Brian Simnjanovski – P/K (2005) *

Brian Waters Brian Demond Waters (born February 18, 1977) is a former American football offensive guard, guard. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1999 out of the University of North Texas. He played most of his career for the K ...

– C/OG (2000) * Phil Stambaugh – QB (2003) * Ahmad Hawkins – CB (2002) *

Tony Pape Tony Pape (born September 29, 1981) is a former American football offensive tackle who since 2010 has been an assistant football coach and in charge of the offensive line at Reavis High School in Burbank, Illinois. Pape was drafted by the Miami D ...

– G (2005)

References

{{NFLE Defunct American football teams in Germany NFL Europe (WLAF) teams Sport in Berlin American football teams established in 1999 American football teams disestablished in 2007 1999 establishments in Germany 2007 disestablishments in Germany