2007 Rhein Fire season

The 2007 Rhein Fire season was the 13th and final season for the franchise in the NFL Europa League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Rick Lantz in his first year, and played its home games at LTU arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the season in fourth place with a record of four wins and six losses. The National Football League (NFL) announced the closure of its European branch on June 29, ending the team's 13-year existence.[1]

2007 Rhein Fire season
General managerSammy Schmale
Head coachRick Lantz
Home fieldLTU arena
Results
Record4–6
Division place4th
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

Free agent draft
2007 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections
Draft order Player name Position College
Round Choice
1 4 Troy Reddick T Auburn
2 10 Wally Dada CB Washington State
3 15 Jesse Boone C Utah
4 22 Aaron Harris LB Texas
5 27 Erik Jensen TE Iowa
6 34 DeJuan Skinner T West Texas A&M
7 39 Calvin Carlyle S Oregon State
8 46 Ryan Hoffman DE Shippensburg State
9 51 Scott Farley S Williams
10 58 Earvin Johnson TE UNLV
11 63 Derrick Strong DE Illinois
12 70 Zach Ville DE Missouri
13 75 Brennan Schmidt DT Virginia
14 82 Jimmy Dixon FB Georgia Tech
15 87 Chris Hawkins CB Marshall
16 94 Taylor Schmidt C San Diego State
17 99 Steve Franklin G Syracuse
18 106 Michael Franklin RB San Diego State
19 111 Jeff Green DE Florida A&M
20 118 Quentin Swain LB Florida Atlantic
21 123 John Glass T Rutgers
22 130 Cal Murray RB Miami (OH)
23 131 Mike Andrews LB Youngstown State

[2]

Personnel

Staff
2007 Rhein Fire staff
Front office
  • General manager – Sammy Schmale

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Nick Kolb

[3] [4]

Roster
2007 Rhein Fire roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers
  • 44 Craig Bailey
  • 45 Blake Costanzo OLB
  • 57 Jamar Enzor OLB
  • 52 Aaron Harris MLB
  • 56 Travis Harris
  • 55 Richard Koonce OLB
  • 58 Derek Rehage

Defensive backs

Special teams

 National players


Rookies in italics

Schedule
Week Date Kickoff [n 1] Opponent Results Game site Attendance
Final score Team record
1 Saturday, April 14 7:00 p.m. Berlin Thunder L 3–15 0–1 LTU arena 30,355
2 Friday, April 20 8:00 p.m. at Amsterdam Admirals W 16–10 1–1 Amsterdam ArenA 14,611
3 Saturday, April 28 7:00 p.m. Cologne Centurions L 6–14 1–2 LTU arena 21,347
4 Sunday, May 6 4:00 p.m. at Hamburg Sea Devils L 9–34 1–3 AOL Arena 19,347
5 Saturday, May 12 7:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy W 27–24 2–3 LTU arena 27,349
6 Saturday, May 19 6:00 p.m. at Cologne Centurions L 17–20 2–4 RheinEnergieStadion 22,154
7 Saturday, May 26 7:00 p.m. at Frankfurt Galaxy L 10–23 2–5 Commerzbank-Arena 32,789
8 Sunday, June 3 4:00 p.m. Amsterdam Admirals W 41–38 3–5 LTU arena 20,355
9 Friday, June 8 7:00 p.m. at Berlin Thunder W 24–17 4–5 Olympic Stadium 12,114
10 Saturday, June 16 7:00 p.m. Hamburg Sea Devils L 13–17 4–6 LTU arena 22,980

[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15]

Standings
NFL Europa League
Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road STK
Hamburg Sea Devils 7 3 0 .700 231 176 4–1 3–2 W4
Frankfurt Galaxy 7 3 0 .700 254 179 5–0 2–3 W1
Cologne Centurions 6 4 0 .600 205 172 2–3 4–1 L1
Rhein Fire 4 6 0 .400 166 212 2–3 2–3 L1
Amsterdam Admirals 4 6 0 .400 194 250 3–2 1–4 W1
Berlin Thunder 2 8 0 .200 146 207 0–5 2–3 L6

[16]

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Berlin Thunder
Week One: Berlin Thunder at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Berlin 0 4 4715
Rhein 0 3 003

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

Week 2: at Amsterdam Admirals
Week Two: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 3 3 7316
Amsterdam 7 0 3010

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Date: Friday, April 20
  • Game time: 8:05 p.m. CEST
  • Game weather: 59 °F (15.0 °C), partly cloudy
  • Game attendance: 14,611
  • Referee: Terry Brown
  • TV announcers (NFL Network): Rich Ackerman and Jon Ritchie

Week 3: vs Cologne Centurions
Week Three: Cologne Centurions at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cologne 0 7 0714
Rhein 3 0 306

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, April 28
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 21,347
  • [17]

Week 4: at Hamburg Sea Devils
Week Four: Rhein Fire at Hamburg Sea Devils – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 0 3 609
Hamburg 7 10 14334

at AOL Arena, Hamburg, Germany

  • Date: Sunday, May 6
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 19,347
  • [18]

Week 5: vs Frankfurt Galaxy
Week Five: Frankfurt Galaxy at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 7 0 71327
Frankfurt 7 7 3724

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, May 12
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 27,349
  • [19]

Week 6: at Cologne Centurions
Week Six: Rhein Fire at Cologne Centurions – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 3 7 7017
Cologne 0 3 71020

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, May 19
  • Game time: 6:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 22,154
  • [20]

Week 7: at Frankfurt Galaxy
Week Seven: Rhein Fire at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 0 10 0010
Frankfurt 3 3 71023

at Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, May 26
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 32,789
  • [21]

Week 8: vs Amsterdam Admirals
Week Eight: Amsterdam Admirals at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Amsterdam 10 10 71138
Rhein 14 10 71041

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

Week 9: at Berlin Thunder
Week Nine: Rhein Fire at Berlin Thunder – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 14 10 0024
Berlin 7 10 0017

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

  • Date: Friday, June 8
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m.
  • Game attendance: 12,114
  • [22]

Week 10: vs Hamburg Sea Devils
Week Ten: Hamburg Sea Devils at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Hamburg 3 7 7017
Rhein 0 10 0313

at LTU arena

  • Date: Saturday, June 16
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 22,980
  • [15][23]

Honors
  • Danny Baugher, All-NFL Europa League team selection
  • Blake Costanzo, All-NFL Europa League team selection
  • Jamar Enzor, Defensive Player of the Week (Week 9)
  • Carlos Hendricks, Defensive Player of the Week (Week 8)
  • Derek Rehage, Defensive Player of the Week (Week 6)
  • P.K. Sam, Offensive Player of the Week (Week 5)

[24] [25]

Notes
  1. All times are in Central European Summer Time (CEST).

References
  1. Kuriloff, Aaron (June 29, 2007). "NFL Folds European League One Week After World Bowl Title Game". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  2. NFL Europa League (February 26, 2007). "Famous names called during NFL Europa Free Agent Draft" (Press release). Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  3. Dinich, Heather (January 24, 2009). "BC hires Tranquill as O-coordinator". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  4. Hendricks, Martin (November 29, 2007). "Taking nothing for granted". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2012-06-25. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  5. NFL Europa League (April 10, 2007). "World Bowl Rematch Kicks Off 15th Season" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  6. NFL Europa League (April 17, 2007). "Early Start To Week Two" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  7. NFL Europa League (April 24, 2007). "Race for NFL Europa glory looks to be crowded" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  8. NFL Europa League (May 1, 2007). "Pace-setting Galaxy Visit Admirals; Centurions Lead Chasing Pack" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  9. NFL Europa League (May 8, 2007). "Everything To Play For As Season Approaches Halfway Mark" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  10. NFL Europa League (May 15, 2007). "Race To Reach World Bowl Closest In League History As All Six Teams Separated By One Game" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  11. NFL Europa League (May 22, 2007). "Two Break Clear Of Chasing Pack As Race To Reach World Bowl Intensifies" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  12. NFL Europa League (May 29, 2007). "Cologne Within Touching Distance Of World Bowl" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  13. NFL Europa League (June 5, 2007). "Galaxy One Win Away From Hosting World Bowl" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  14. NFL Europa League (June 12, 2007). "Three Teams Eye Two Title Game Spots As Race To Reach World Bowl Goes Down To Final Weekend" (Press release). Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  15. Stolle, Hans (June 18, 2007). "Football: Der Abschied von Rhein Fire" (in German). Rheinische Post. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  16. "NFL Europa At A Glance". USA Today. June 25, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  17. "American Football – NFL Europa: Frankfurt Galaxy nicht zu stoppen" (in German). Focus. SID. April 28, 2007. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  18. "Football: Sea Devils besiegen Rhein Fire in der AOL-Arena mit 34:9" (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. May 7, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  19. "Rhein Fire begeisterte 27.349 Fans – Das war beste Werbung für die NFL Europa" (in German). reviersport.de. May 14, 2007. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  20. "NFL Europa: Frankfurt und Köln auf World-Bowl-Kurs" (in German). Rheinische Post. May 19, 2007. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  21. "7. Spieltag der NFL Europa: Spitzenkampf zwischen Galaxy und Centurions" (in German). Rheinische Post. May 26, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2019.
  22. "Football: Berlin Thunder enttäuscht" (in German). Der Tagesspiegel. June 9, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2019.
  23. Stolle, Hans (June 16, 2007). "10. Spieltag NFL Europa: Galaxy und Sea Devils im Finale um den World Bowl" (in German). Rheinische Post. Retrieved February 20, 2019.
  24. World Bowl XV Media Guide.
  25. "Honors handed out". NFLEurope.com. June 21, 2007. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
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