2007 Rhein Fire season

2007 Rhein Fire season
Head coach	Rick Lantz
General manager	Sammy Schmale
Home field	LTU arena
Results
Record	4–6
Division place	4th
Playoff finish	did not qualify

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.

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

Personnel

Staff

2007 Rhein Fire staff
	Front office General Manager – Sammy Schmale Head coaches Head Coach – Rick Lantz Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Don Eck Quarterbacks – Gary Tranquill National Coach/Running Backs/Special Teams – Sascha Gehloff Wide Receivers – Nate Poole Tight Ends – Vince Marrow			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Larry New Linebackers – Bernardo Harris Defensive Backs – Stan Davis Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Nick Kolb

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	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

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

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Berlin Thunder

Week One: Berlin Thunder at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	0	4	4	7	15
Rhein	0	3	0	0	3

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, April 14
• Game time: 7:06 p.m. CEST
• Game weather: 71 °F (21.7 °C), sunny
• Game attendance: 30,355
• Referee: Carl Cheffers
• TV announcers (NFL Network): Scott Graham and Doug Graber

Week 2: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week Two: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	3	3	7	3	16
Amsterdam	7	0	3	0	10

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 8: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Week Eight: Amsterdam Admirals at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Amsterdam	10	10	7	11	38
Rhein	14	10	7	10	41

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Sunday, June 3
• Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
• Game weather: 66 °F (18.9 °C)
• Game attendance: 20,355
• Referee: Carl Cheffers
• TV announcers (NFL Network): Chris Carrino and Jerry Porter

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)