The Rhein Fire was a professional football team in the

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 ...

, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1995, the franchise resurrected the name of the former

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 ...

team which was active during the 1991–1992 WLAF seasons.

History

The team was based in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

(and early on was occasionally referred to in the U.S. as the Düsseldorf Fire), playing its games in

LTU arena Merkur Spielarena (stylized as MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA), previously known as the Esprit Arena (until 2 August 2018), the LTU Arena (until June 2009), and as the Düsseldorf Arena (during the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest), is a multi-functional footbal ...

since 2005 season. Prior to this the team played in

Rheinstadion The Rheinstadion () was a multi-purpose stadium, in Düsseldorf, Germany. The stadium was built, near the Rhine, in 1926 and held 54,000 people at the end of its life. It was the home ground for Fortuna Düsseldorf from 1953 to 1970 and 1972– ...

until 2002 and in

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

Arena AufSchalke Arena AufSchalke (), currently known as Veltins-Arena () for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor association football, football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 13 August 2001, as the new home ground for ...

from 2003 to 2004 in nearby city

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...

while LTU arena was being built. The team shared facilities with the

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

. The Fire hosted 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 ...

a record five times: in 1999 and

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 ...

in the Rheinstadion, in 2004 in Gelsenkirchen, and 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 ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

in the LTU arena. The Fire was one of NFL Europa's most successful teams as far as fan appeal and competitively on the field. The team itself played for five

championships throughout its history, winning in 1998 (over the Frankfurt Galaxy) and

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

(over the Scottish Claymores).

Season-by-season

Coaching history

Head coaches

Assistant coaches

Antonio Anderson Antonio Andrew Anderson (born June 5, 1985) is an American former basketball player and the current head coach at Springfield Commonwealth Academy. He majored in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Memphis and played basketball for ...

(2006) *

Bart Andrus Bart Andrus (born March 30, 1958) is an American football coach and a former collegiate player who is the head coach and general manager for the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League (USFL). He has served as head coach for the ...

(2000) * Mike Bender (2001) * Booker Brooks (2001) * Steve Carson (1996–1997) *

Wes Chandler Wesley Sandy Chandler (born August 22, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four t ...

(1995–1997) * Joe Clark (2001) *

Ken Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as d ...

(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 Alvin Craig Harper (born July 6, 1967) is a former football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the first ...

(2005) * James Harrell (2004) *

Bernardo Harris Bernardo Harris (born October 15, 1971) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League. He attended Chapel Hill High School, graduating in 1990. He was recruited by Mack Brown to play at the University of North Carolina a ...

(2007) * Mike Jones (1998–2000, 2002–2003) * Whitey Jordan (1998–2000, 2002–2004) * E. J. Junior (2005) *

Ken Karcher Kenneth Paul Karcher (born July 1, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at East Central Community College, a position he has held since January 2013. Karcher served in the same capacity at ...

(1997–1999) * Pete Kuharchek (1996–2000) * Bob Lancaster (2006) * Pete Levine (1996) * Steve Logan (2006) * Bob Lord (1997) *

Duval Love Duval Love (born June 24, 1963) is a former American football guard. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Biography Love was born in Los Angeles, C ...

(2006) * Jörn Maier (2001–2004) * Vince Marrow (2007) *

Guy McIntyre Guy Maurice McIntyre (born February 17, 1961) is a former professional American football offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL). He played in three Super Bowls and five Pro Bowls as a member of the San Francisco 49ers. McInty ...

(2002) *

Scott Milanovich Scott Stewart Milanovich (born January 25, 1973) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the head coach of the ...

(2003–2005) * Larry New (2007) *

Jeff Ogden Jeffrey Matthew Ogden (born February 22, 1975) is a former American football wide receiver, kickoff and punt returner in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens. He played college football at Ea ...

(2004) * Kevin O'Neal (2004–2005) * Ed O'Neil (2001–2003) *

Nate Poole Nathan Poole (born February 1, 1977) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at Marshall. Poo ...

(2007) * Jan Quarless (2005) *

Jeff Reinebold Jeff Reinebold (born November 19, 1957) is an American gridiron football coach who is the director of player development at the University of Hawaiʻi. Prior to Hawaiʻi, He was appointed the special teams coordinator for the Montreal Alouette ...

(1995, 1999–2000) * Walter Rohlfing (1995–2000) * Steve Smith (2006) *

Don Strock Donald Joseph Strock (born November 27, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. He played professionally as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) with the Miami Dolphins (1973–1987), Cleveland Browns (1988), and Ind ...

(1995) *

Gary Tranquill Gary Tranquill (born April 13, 1940) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was last the offensive coordinator at Boston College, a position he held until 2010. From 1982 to 1986, Tranquill served as the head football coach ...

(2007) * Dean Unruh (1995–1996) * Adrian White (2001–2006)

Notable players

* Richard Adjei (2004–2007) * Ingo Anderbrügge (2003–2004), former

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

soccer player, kicker during Fire's years in Gelsenkirchen * Cedric Bonner (2006–2007) *

Manfred Burgsmüller Manfred "Manni" Burgsmüller (22 December 1949 – 18 May 2019) was a German professional footballer who played mainly as a striker; he also occasionally operated as a midfielder. He appeared in 447 Bundesliga games over the course of 17 sea ...

(1996–2002), kicker and oldest professional American football player at age 52 * Byron Chamberlain (1996) * Derrick Clark (1996–1999) * Mike Croel (1998) *

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former American footballer. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/ CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which aired from 2005 to 2009, and portrayed Terry Jeffords ...

(1995) * Nick Ferguson (1998) * Patrick Gerigk (1998) * James Harrison (2004) *

Drew Henson Drew Daniel Henson (born February 13, 1980) is a former Major League Baseball third baseman and National Football League quarterback. He was drafted by the Houston Texans in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. He played college football at ...

(2006) * Andy Kelly (1996) * Fred Jackson (2006) *

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to ''Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. He ...

(2001) * Mike Quinn (1998) * Marcus Robinson (1998) *

Jamal Robertson Jamal Robertson (born January 10, 1977) is a former American and Canadian football running back and kick returner. He played college football at Ohio Northern and played professionally in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football ...

(2002) * Bill Schroeder (1997) *

Gino Torretta Gino Louis Torretta (born August 10, 1970) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami, won the Heisman Trophy in 1992, and w ...

(1995) * Tony Wragge (2006) * Danny Wuerffel (2000) * Tamon Nakamura (1998-1999) * Akihito Amaya (2001-2002) *

John David Washington John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former professional football player. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Wash ...

(2007)

Other notable personnel

* Alexander Leibkind – General Manager 1996–2004 *

– Assistant coach for the Fire, was previously an NFL replacement player and later became a collegiate head coach. *

Oliver Luck Oliver Francis Luck (born April 5, 1960) is an American business executive and former football quarterback. He is currently the executive director of the ASUN–WAC Football Conference (tentative name), a new NCAA Division I FCS conference starti ...

– General Manager 1995, became league president the following year.

References

{{Authority control NFL Europe (WLAF) teams Defunct American football teams in Germany Sport in Düsseldorf American football teams established in 1995 American football teams disestablished in 2007 1995 establishments in Germany 2007 disestablishments in Germany