1997 Rhein Fire season

World League of American Football team season Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) Rhein Fire 1997 7–3 1st Galen Hall Alexander Leibkind Rheinstadion Lost World Bowl '97 1996 1998 Rhein Fire The 1997 Rhein Fire season was the third season for the franchise in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The team was led by head coach Galen Hall in his third 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, marking the first winning season in franchise history. In World Bowl '97, Rhein lost to the Barcelona Dragons 38–24. Quarterback T. J. Rubley earned all-World League honors and was named the league's offensive most valuable player. Offseason World League draft + 1997 Rhein Fire World League draft selections Draft order Player name Position College Round Choice 1 1 Israel Stanley DE Arizona State 2 7 Artis Houston CB California 3 18 Thomas Bailey WR Auburn 4 19 Scotty Lewis DE Baylor 5 30 David Merritt LB North Carolina State 6 31 John Anderson S Oklahoma 7 42 David Rhodes WR Central Florida 8 43 Pete Shufelt LB UTEP 9 54 Anthony Daigle RB Fresno State 10 55 Sean Foster WR Long Beach State 11 66 Chris Shelling CB Auburn 12 67 Ricky Powers RB Michigan 13 78 Kelly Wiltshire CB James Madison 14 79 Earl Mackey LB Southern 15 90 Mark Brook LB Wyoming 16 91 Don Robinson CB Kentucky 17 102 Will Brown LB Alabama 18 103 Kyle Richardson P Arkansas State 19 114 Chris Thomas WR Cal Poly 20 115 Jay Barry RB Washington 1997 World League draft http://www.worldleague.com/general/facts/00035926.html WorldLeague.com March 9, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/19970709131348/http://www.worldleague.com/general/facts/00035926.html July 9, 1997 Personnel Staff 1997 Rhein Fire General Manager – Alexander Leibkind Head Coach/Running Backs – Galen Hall Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Ken Karcher Wide Receivers – Wes Chandler Offensive Line – Bob Lord Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Pete Kuharchek National Coach/Defensive Line – Walter Rohlfing Defensive Backs/Special Teams – Steve Carson Roster 1997 Rhein Fire final #6E273D white black 13 Mike Groh  7 Josh LaRocca 12 T. J. Rubley no 26 Ontiwaun Carter 43 Derrick Clark American football 44 Ricky Powers 18 Thomas Bailey American football no 80 Michael Dritlein no  5 Sean Foster no 81 David Rhodes 84 Bill Schroeder wide receiver 88 A. J. Ofodile 79 Ethan Brooks T 70 Spencer Folau T no 62 John Jones G 55 Bob Kronenberg C no 64 Leslie Ratliffe G/T 77 Mike Sheldon G 68 Barry Stokes American football G/T no 69 Thomas Vollath G no 73 Keith Wagner T 98 Dunstan Anderson DE 63 Buster Stanley DT 90 Israel Stanley DE 99 Tyrone Williams defensive tackle DT no 74 James Wilson DE 53 Aubrey Beavers OLB no 56 Mark Brook OLB no 52 Will Brown OLB 50 Anthony Fieldings MLB 51 David Merritt OLB 54 Pete Shufelt MLB (IR) 7px no 19 John Anderson S no 22 Lee Cole CB no 40 Matt Gay S no 28 Myron Glass CB no 33 Artis Houston CB 30 Chris Shelling S 29 Michael Swift American football CB no  2 Atle Larsen K  3 Kyle Richardson punter P 10 GER 12px Manfred Burgsmüller K no 82 GER 12px Martin Driever TE no 75 GER 12px Peter Gross-Pass DT no 71 GER 12px Olaf Hampel G no 94 JPN 12px Takahiro Ikenoue MLB no 78 GER 12px Vladimir Ilic DE no  8 GER 12px Babak Movassaghi WR Schedule Week Date Kickoff All times local to where the game was played. "n" Opponent Results Game site Attendance Final score Team record 1 Saturday, April 12 7:00 p.m. Barcelona Dragons L 12–27 0–1 Rheinstadion 17,150 2 Sunday, April 20 3:00 p.m. London Monarchs W 28–6 1–1 Rheinstadion 14,876 3 Sunday, April 27 3:00 p.m. at Scottish Claymores W 23–10 2–1 Murrayfield Stadium 11,166 4 Saturday, May 3 7:00 p.m. at Amsterdam Admirals L 20–23 2–2 Amsterdam ArenA 10,698 5 Saturday, May 10 7:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy W 10–7 3–2 Rheinstadion 32,140 6 Saturday, May 17 7:00 p.m. at Frankfurt Galaxy W 21–20 4–2 Waldstadion 39,182 7 Sunday, May 25 3:00 p.m. Scottish Claymores L 20–23 4–3 Rheinstadion 20,498 8 Saturday, May 31 7:30 p.m. at Barcelona Dragons W 38–23 5–3 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 13,670 9 Saturday, June 7 7:00 p.m. Amsterdam Admirals W 24–0 6–3 Rheinstadion 23,697 10 Sunday, June 15 3:00 p.m. at London Monarchs W 10–7 7–3 Stamford Bridge 10,462 World Bowl '97 11 Sunday, June 22 7:00 p.m. Barcelona Dragons L 24–38 7–4 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 31,100 The Official 1998 NFL Europe League Fact Book 218–222 1997 Season in Review https://newspaperarchive.com/european-stars-and-stripes/1997-04-14/page-26/ Dragons 27, Fire 12 April 14, 1997 European Stars and Stripes 27 Darmstadt, Germany June 5, 2012 https://apnews.com/06b69cee829bd9a3ae7284b53b872e83 Fire 28, Monarchs 6 Associated Press April 20, 1997 APNewsArchive.com Associated Press March 9, 2013 https://apnews.com/eac927e3a84bcaf8add0a1b8321d2513 Admirals 23, Fire 20 Associated Press May 3, 1997 APNewsArchive.com Associated Press March 9, 2013 https://apnews.com/57d97773739f33d663c94cbe885c6237 Fire 10, Galaxy 7 Associated Press May 10, 1997 APNewsArchive.com Associated Press June 30, 2013 https://apnews.com/e816e38ef3f65ce3c0e3ca25c94b6dc4 Fire 21, Galaxy 20 Associated Press May 17, 1997 APNewsArchive.com Associated Press June 30, 2013 https://apnews.com/f44bdf77a7e05b4561e01c3214bcdc69 Fire 10, Monarchs 7 Associated Press June 15, 1997 APNewsArchive.com Associated Press June 30, 2013 Standings Game summaries Week 1: vs Barcelona Dragons background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week One: Barcelona Dragons at Rhein Fire – Game summary Saturday, April 12 7:00 p.m. CEST Barcelona 7 14 6 0 Rhein 3 3 3 3 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 17,150 Week 2: vs London Monarchs background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Two: London Monarchs at Rhein Fire – Game summary Sunday, April 20 3:00 p.m. CEST London 0 0 0 6 Rhein 0 0 14 14 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 14,876 Week 3: at Scottish Claymores background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Three: Rhein Fire at Scottish Claymores – Game summary Sunday, April 27 3:00 p.m. BST Rhein 13 0 7 3 Scotland 0 0 3 7 Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland 11,166 Week 4: at Amsterdam Admirals background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Four: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary Saturday, May 3 7:00 p.m. CEST Rhein 0 6 7 7 Amsterdam 10 0 6 7 Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands 10,698 Week 5: vs Frankfurt Galaxy background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Five: Frankfurt Galaxy at Rhein Fire – Game summary Saturday, May 10 7:00 p.m. CEST Frankfurt 0 7 0 0 Rhein 0 0 7 3 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 32,140 Phil Luckett Week 6: at Frankfurt Galaxy background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Six: Rhein Fire at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary Saturday, May 17 7:00 p.m. CEST Rhein 0 14 0 7 Frankfurt 3 7 7 3 Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany 39,182 Week 7: vs Scottish Claymores background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Seven: Scottish Claymores at Rhein Fire – Game summary Sunday, May 25 3:00 p.m. CEST Scotland 7 0 0 16 Rhein 3 10 7 0 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 20,498 Week 8: at Barcelona Dragons background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Eight: Rhein Fire at Barcelona Dragons – Game summary Saturday, May 31 7:30 p.m. CEST Rhein 7 14 7 10 Barcelona 0 9 7 7 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain 13,670 Week 9: vs Amsterdam Admirals background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Nine: Amsterdam Admirals at Rhein Fire – Game summary Saturday, June 7 7:00 p.m. CEST Amsterdam 0 0 0 0 Rhein 7 10 0 7 Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany 23,697 Week 10: at London Monarchs background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; Week Ten: Rhein Fire at London Monarchs – Game summary Sunday, June 15 3:00 p.m. BST Rhein 0 3 7 0 London 0 7 0 0 Stamford Bridge, London, England 10,462 Phil Luckett World Bowl '97 World Bowl '97 background:#F2F2F2; border:1px solid #AAAAAA; text-align:center; World Bowl '97: Rhein Fire vs Barcelona Dragons – Game summary Sunday, June 22 7:00 p.m. CEST Rhein 3 14 0 7 Barcelona 14 14 7 3 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain 31,100 Phil Luckett Awards After the completion of the regular season, the All-World League team was selected by members of the media.http://www.worldleague.com/general/news/allworld.html 1997 All-World League team June 20, 1997 WorldLeague.com March 9, 2013 https://web.archive.org/web/19970709130411/http://www.worldleague.com/general/news/allworld.html July 9, 1997 Overall, Rhein had six players selected. The selections were: T. J. Rubley, quarterback Bill Schroeder, wide receiver Ethan Brooks, offensive tackle Mike Sheldon, guard Bob Kronenberg, center Spencer Folau, offensive tackle Additionally, Rubley was selected offensive MVP by the six World League head coaches.https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/21/sports/rubley-and-simmons-honored.html Rubley and Simmons Honored June 21, 1997 The New York Times March 9, 2013 Manhattan, New York Galen Hall earned Coach of the Year honors. Notes "n" References 30em Category:Rhein Fire seasons Rhein Rhein