1997 Rhein Fire season

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.

1997 Rhein Fire season
Head coach	Galen Hall
General manager	Alexander Leibkind
Home field	Rheinstadion
Results
Record	7–3
Division place	1st
Playoff finish	Lost World Bowl '97

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

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1997 Rhein Fire staff

	Front office General Manager – Alexander Leibkind Head coaches Head Coach/Running Backs – Galen Hall Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Ken Karcher Wide Receivers – Wes Chandler Offensive Line – Bob Lord			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Pete Kuharchek National Coach/Defensive Line – Walter Rohlfing Defensive Backs/Special Teams – Steve Carson

Roster

1997 Rhein Fire roster

	Quarterbacks 13 Mike Groh  7 Josh LaRocca 12 T. J. Rubley Running backs 26 Ontiwaun Carter 43 Derrick Clark 44 Ricky Powers Wide receivers 18 Thomas Bailey 80 Michael Dritlein  5 Sean Foster 81 David Rhodes 84 Bill Schroeder Tight ends 88 A. J. Ofodile		Offensive linemen 79 Ethan Brooks T 70 Spencer Folau T 62 John Jones G 55 Bob Kronenberg C 64 Leslie Ratliffe G/T 77 Mike Sheldon G 68 Barry Stokes G/T Defensive linemen 98 Dunstan Anderson DE 90 Israel Stanley DE 63 Sylvester Stanley DE 99 Tyrone Williams DT 74 James Wilson DT		Linebackers 53 Aubrey Beavers OLB 56 Mark Brook OLB 52 Will Brown OLB 50 Anthony Fieldings MLB 51 David Merritt OLB 54 Pete Shufelt MLB Defensive backs 19 John Anderson S 22 Lee Cole CB 40 Matt Gay S 33 Artis Houston CB 30 Chris Shelling S 29 Michael Swift CB Special teams  2 Atle Larsen K 11 Diriki Mose RS  3 Kyle Richardson P		National players 10 Manfred Burgsmüller K 82 Martin Driever TE 75 Peter Gross-Pass DT 71 Olaf Hampel G 94 Takahiro Ikenoue LB 78 Vladimir Ilic DE  8 Babak Movassaghi WR Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff [n 1]	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

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

Standings

World League of American Football
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Rhein Fire	7	3	0	.700	206	146	3–2	4–1	W3
Barcelona Dragons	5	5	0	.500	236	209	2–3	3–2	W1
Scottish Claymores	5	5	0	.500	134	154	2–3	3–2	L2
Amsterdam Admirals	5	5	0	.500	156	160	4–1	1–4	W1
Frankfurt Galaxy	4	6	0	.400	147	142	3–2	1–4	L1
London Monarchs	4	6	0	.400	116	184	2–3	2–3	L1

[2]

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Barcelona Dragons

Week One: Barcelona Dragons at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Barcelona	7	14	6	0	27
Rhein	3	3	3	3	12

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, April 12
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 17,150
• [3]

Week 2: vs London Monarchs

Week Two: London Monarchs at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
London	0	0	0	6	6
Rhein	0	0	14	14	28

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Sunday, April 20
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 14,876
• [4]

Week 3: at Scottish Claymores

Week Three: Rhein Fire at Scottish Claymores – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	13	0	7	3	23
Scotland	0	0	3	7	10

at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

• Date: Sunday, April 27
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
• Game attendance: 11,166

Week 4: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week Four: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	6	7	7	20
Amsterdam	10	0	6	7	23

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Date: Saturday, May 3
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 10,698
• [5]

Week 5: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Five: Frankfurt Galaxy at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	7	0	0	7
Rhein	0	0	7	3	10

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 10
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 32,140
• Referee: Phil Luckett
• [6]

Week 6: at Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Six: Rhein Fire at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	14	0	7	21
Frankfurt	3	7	7	3	20

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 17
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 39,182
• [7]

Week 7: vs Scottish Claymores

Week Seven: Scottish Claymores at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scotland	7	0	0	16	23
Rhein	3	10	7	0	20

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Sunday, May 25
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 20,498

Week 8: at Barcelona Dragons

Week Eight: Rhein Fire at Barcelona Dragons – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	7	14	7	10	38
Barcelona	0	9	7	7	23

at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain

• Date: Saturday, May 31
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 13,670

Week 9: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Week Nine: Amsterdam Admirals at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Amsterdam	0	0	0	0	0
Rhein	7	10	0	7	24

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, June 7
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 23,697

Week 10: at London Monarchs

Week Ten: Rhein Fire at London Monarchs – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	3	7	0	10
London	0	7	0	0	7

at Stamford Bridge, London, England

• Date: Sunday, June 15
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
• Game attendance: 10,462
• Referee: Phil Luckett
• [8]

World Bowl '97

World Bowl '97: Rhein Fire vs Barcelona Dragons – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	3	14	0	7	24
Barcelona	14	14	7	3	38

at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain

• Date: Sunday, June 22
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 31,100
• Referee: Phil Luckett
• [2]

Awards

After the completion of the regular season, the All-World League team was selected by members of the media.[9] Overall, Rhein had six players selected.[9] 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.[10] Galen Hall earned Coach of the Year honors.[9]

Notes

1. All times local to where the game was played.

References

1. "1997 World League draft". WorldLeague.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 1997. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
2. "1997 Season in Review". The Official 1998 NFL Europe League Fact Book. pp. 218–222.
3. "Dragons 27, Fire 12". European Stars and Stripes. Darmstadt, Germany. April 14, 1997. p. 27. Retrieved June 5, 2012.
4. Associated Press (April 20, 1997). "Fire 28, Monarchs 6". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
5. Associated Press (May 3, 1997). "Admirals 23, Fire 20". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
6. Associated Press (May 10, 1997). "Fire 10, Galaxy 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
7. Associated Press (May 17, 1997). "Fire 21, Galaxy 20". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
8. Associated Press (June 15, 1997). "Fire 10, Monarchs 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
9. "1997 All-World League team". WorldLeague.com. June 20, 1997. Archived from the original on July 9, 1997. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
10. "Rubley and Simmons Honored". The New York Times. Manhattan, New York. June 21, 1997. Retrieved March 9, 2013.