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Berlin Thunder
NFLE Thunder
Berlin Thunder Logo svg
Helmet Logo
Year Founded 1999
Year Retired 2007
Home Field Olympic Stadium
City Berlin, Germany
Team Colors Black, Green, Tan, Orange, White[1]
                        
Championships
World Bowls (3)

The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe, which was a springtime American football league serving primarily as a developmental league for the National Football League. Most of the players were young American professional players assigned by NFL teams to receive additional game experience and coaching. Coaching staffs are predominantly provided by the NFL for developmental purposes as well. In addition, "national" players, or non-American players, compete on each team. Berlin's 2006 squad included players from Germany, Finland, England, Mexico and Japan. Players and coaches had their living expenses paid for by the league while in Europe in addition to their salaries.[citation needed].

History[]

The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season.

The Thunder have won the World Bowl 3 times: 2001, 2002 and 2004 (a year that they went 9-1).

They also made it to the World Bowl in 2005, but were narrowly defeated by the Amsterdam Admirals. The final score was 27-21.

Two Berlin quarterbacks, Rohan Davey (2004) and Dave Ragone (2005), were named NFL Europe Offensive Most Valuable Players. Linebacker Rich Scanlon (2005) was named NFL Europe Defensive MVP. In 2006, the Thunder had three players earn All-NFL Europe honors: guard Chad Beasley and safety Anthony Floyd earned all-league honors at their respective positions and German defensive end Christian Mohr was honored as the national player on the defensive all-league team.

On April Fools Day 2006, the Thunder recorded their very first tie in franchise history. Trailing the Hamburg Sea Devils 17-0 at halftime, the Thunder erased their deficit to tie it up, going into overtime. Unfortunately, neither team could come up with a point in the extra period. This was only the second tie in the history of NFL Europe. The previous tie came in the 1992 season between the Birmingham Fire and the London Monarchs. The final score for that game was also 17-17.

Season-by-season[]

Season League Regular season Postseason results Awards
Finish W L T Pct
Berlin Thunder
1999 NFLE 6th League 3 7 0 .300
2000 NFLE 6th League 4 6 0 .400
2001 NFLE 2nd League 6 4 0 .600 Won World Bowl IX (Dragons)
2002 NFLE 2nd League 6 4 0 .600 Won World Bowl X (Fire) Peter Vaas (Coach of the Year)
2003 NFLE 6th League 3 7 0 .300
2004 NFLE 1st League 9 1 0 .900 Won World Bowl XII (Galaxy) Rick Lantz (Coach of the Year)
2005 NFLE 1st League 7 3 0 .700 Lost World Bowl XIII (Admirals)
2006 NFLE 6th League 2 7 1 .250
2007 NFLE 6th League 2 8 0 .200
Total 42 47 1 .472 (1999–2007, includes only regular season)
3 1 0 .750 (1999–2007, includes only postseason)
45 48 1 .506 (1999–2007, includes both regular season and postseason)

Head coaches[]

# Name Term Regular season Postseason Achievements Reference
GC W L T Win% GC W L Win%
Berlin Thunder
1 Wes Chandler 1999 10 3 7 0 .300
2 Peter Vaas 20002003 40 19 21 0 .475 2 2 0 1.000 Coach of the Year (2002) [2]
3 Rick Lantz 20042006 30 18 11 1 .617 2 1 1 .500 Coach of the Year (2004)
4 John Allen 2007 10 2 8 0 .200

Notable players[]

See also: Category:Berlin Thunder players

References[]

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