2000 Rhein Fire season

2000 Rhein Fire season
General manager	Alexander Leibkind
Head coach	Galen Hall
Home field	Rheinstadion
Results
Record	7–3
Division place	1st
Playoff finish	World Bowl 2000 champion

The 2000 Rhein Fire season was the sixth season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Galen Hall in his sixth year, and played its home games at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses, qualifying for the league final for the third time in four years. Rhein won the second championship in team history by defeating the Scottish Claymores 13–10 in World Bowl 2000.

Offseason

Free agent draft

2000 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections

Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice
1	4	Rome Douglas	T	Southern California
2	10	Michael Early	C	Norfolk State
3	15	Terrance Joseph	S	Tulsa
4	22	Everett Burnett	WR	Kansas State
5	27	Pepe Pearson	RB	Ohio State
6	34	Daniel Jones	WR	Utah
7	39	Stephen Fisher	CB	North Carolina
8	46	Dan Collins	G	Boston College
9	51	Derrick Steagall	WR	Georgia Tech
10	58	Thomas Guynes	T	Michigan
11	63	Dusty Renfro	LB	Texas
12	70	Kevin Cooper	WR	Mississippi State
13	75	William Carr	DT	Michigan
14	82	Tim Martin	DE	Tulsa
15	87	Matthew Hickl	S	Texas A&M-Kingville
16	94	Mark Smith	LB	Arkansas
17	99	Scott Whittaker	T	Kansas
18	106	Nakia Reddick	S	Central Florida
19	111	Kevin Drake	WR	Alabama-Birmingham
20	118	James Clyburn	DT	North Carolina A&T

Personnel

Staff

2000 Rhein Fire staff

	Front office General Manager – Alexander Leibkind Head coaches Head Coach/Running Backs – Galen Hall Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Bart Andrus Wide Receivers – Mike Jones Offensive Line – Whitey Jordan			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Pete Kuharchek National Coach/Defensive Line – Walter Rohlfing Defensive Backs/Special Teams – Jeff Reinebold

Roster

2000 Rhein Fire roster

	Quarterbacks  8 Matt Lytle  7 Danny Wuerffel Running backs 25 Ontiwaun Carter 43 Derrick Clark 28 Carl McCullough 20 Pepe Pearson Wide receivers 86 Kevin Drake  1 Alonzo Johnson  5 Daniel Jones 18 Kendrick Nord 84 Jeff Ogden Tight ends 85 Lawrence Hart 87 Ryan Neufeld		Offensive linemen 77 Ben Adams G 67 Chris Brymer C 66 Dan Collins T 63 Michael Early C 75 Craig Heimburger G 79 Ben Nichols G/T 73 Pete Swanson T 78 Scott Whittaker T Defensive linemen 69 Ken Anderson DT 98 Ernie Brown DT 95 Marques Douglas DT 99 Larry Fitzpatrick DE 71 Derrick Ham DE 91 Carl Powell DE		Linebackers 53 Jamie Baisley MLB 58 Vincent Bradford 59 Kendell Ogle OLB 57 Dusty Renfro OLB Defensive backs 29 Chris Akins S 33 Nick Ferguson S 35 Stephen Fisher CB 30 Derrick Gardner CB 40 Matthew Hickl S 36 Deshone Mallard CB 44 Anthony Mitchell S Special teams 13 Peter Elezovic K 12 Danny Kight K  2 Rodney Williams P		National players 10 Manfred Burgsmüller K 50 Anthony Doghmi LB 23 Sascha Gehloff DB 45 Wolfgang Hatzky RB 72 Bastian Lano DL 81 Kai-Erik Lyck WR 21 Oyeniran Olalere Odunayo Ojo RB 55 Dusty Pearce LB Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
				Final score	Team record
1	Saturday, April 15	7:00 p.m.	Barcelona Dragons	W 28–17	1–0	Rheinstadion	28,924
2	Saturday, April 22	7:00 p.m.	at Amsterdam Admirals	L 20–23 OT	1–1	Amsterdam ArenA	13,285
3	Saturday, April 29	7:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	W 34–27	2–1	Rheinstadion	43,129
4	Saturday, May 6	7:00 p.m.	at Barcelona Dragons	W 18–7	3–1	Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc	21,200
5	Saturday, May 13	7:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	W 22–10	4–1	Rheinstadion	30,537
6	Sunday, May 21	3:00 p.m.	at Berlin Thunder	L 21–25 OT	4–2	Jahn-Sportpark	10,273
7	Saturday, May 27	7:00 p.m.	Berlin Thunder	W 28–27	5–2	Rheinstadion	33,437
8	Sunday, June 4	7:00 p.m.	at Frankfurt Galaxy	W 53–14	6–2	Waldstadion	41,351
9	Saturday, June 10	3:00 p.m.	at Scottish Claymores	L 24–31	6–3	Hampden Park	10,196
10	Sunday, June 18	7:00 p.m.	Amsterdam Admirals	W 31–28	7–3	Rheinstadion	37,113
World Bowl 2000
11	Sunday, June 25	7:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	W 13–10	8–3	Waldstadion	35,860

Standings

NFL Europe League
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Rhein Fire	7	3	0	.700	279	209	5–0	2–3	W1
Scottish Claymores	6	4	0	.600	273	165	4–1	2–3	L1
Barcelona Dragons	5	5	0	.500	194	212	2–3	3–2	W1
Amsterdam Admirals	4	6	0	.400	206	243	3–2	1–4	L3
Frankfurt Galaxy	4	6	0	.400	206	269	1–4	3–2	W2
Berlin Thunder	4	6	0	.400	189	249	3–2	1–4	L1

Game summaries

World Bowl 2000

Main article: World Bowl 2000

World Bowl 2000: Rhein Fire vs Scottish Claymores – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	3	3	0	7	13
Scotland	7	3	0	0	10

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Sunday, June 25
• Game time: 7:07 p.m. CEST
• Game weather: 17 °C (63 °F), cloudy
• Game attendance: 35,860
• Referee: Bill Leavy
• TV announcers (FOX): Sam Rosen and Bill Maas

Game information

First quarter Rhein – 21-yard field goal by Manfred Burgsmüller, 9:48. Scotland – Aaron Stecker 36-yard touchdown run, Rob Hart kick good, 8:38. Second quarter Scotland – 32-yard field goal by Rob Hart, 9:03. Rhein – 23-yard field goal by Manfred Burgsmüller, 4:59. Third quarter No scoring. Fourth quarter Rhein – Pepe Pearson 1-yard touchdown run, Manfred Burgsmüller kick good, 1:12. Leading passers Rhein – Danny Wuerffel – 12/30, 90 yards, 2 interceptions. Scotland – Kevin Daft – 16/29, 177 yards, 1 interception. Leading rushers Rhein – Pepe Pearson – 14 rushes, 61 yards, 1 touchdown. Scotland – Aaron Stecker – 13 rushes, 92 yards, 1 touchdown. Leading receivers Rhein – Jeff Ogden – 3 receptions, 26 yards. Scotland – Donald Sellers – 4 receptions, 56 yards.