1996 Rhein Fire season
General managerAlexander Leibkind
Head coachGalen Hall
Home fieldRheinstadion
Results
Record3–7
Division place6th
Playoff finishdid not qualify

The 1996 Rhein Fire season was the second season for the Rhein Fire in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The team was led by head coach Galen Hall in his second year, and played its home games at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the regular season in sixth place with a record of three wins and seven losses.

Offseason

World League draft

1996 Rhein Fire World League draft selections
Draft order Player name Position College
Round Choice
1 2 Sylvester Stanley DT Michigan
2 8 Sebastian Savage DB North Carolina State
3 17 Terry Richardson RB Syracuse
4 20 Tommie Stowers TE Missouri
5 29 Steve Hoyem T Stanford
6 32 Percy Snow LB Michigan State
7 41 Stacy Evans DE South Carolina
8 44 Kevin Knox WR Florida State
9 53 Willie Gaston DB Alabama
10 56 Jerone Davison RB Arizona State
11 65 James Roberson DE Florida State
12 68 Ricky Andrews LB Washington
12 74 James Wilson DE Tennessee
13 79 Jason Carthen LB Ohio
14 82 Larry Kennedy DB Florida
15 91 Myron Glass DB Northern Iowa
16 94 Ontiwaun Carter RB Arizona
17 103 Leo Araguz P Stephen F. Austin
18 106 Jamal Cox LB Georgia Tech
19 115 Riddick Parker DT North Carolina
20 118 Eric Green WR Benedictine College
21 125 Brad Parpan QB Villanova
22 128 Tuli Mateialona LB New Mexico
23 135 Larry Davis DT UTEP

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1996 Rhein Fire staff
Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Pete Levine
  • Wide Receivers – Wes Chandler
  • Offensive Line – Dean Unruh
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Pete Kuharchek
  • National Coach/Defensive Line – Walter Rohlfing
  • Defensive Backs/Special Teams – Steve Carson


[2]

Roster

1996 Rhein Fire roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  • 24 Ontiwaun Carter
  • 43 Derrick Clark FB
  • 33 Jerone Davison
  • 32 Terry Richardson

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

  • 48 Jamal Cox S
  • 29 Donald Douglas
  • 27 Jamal Ellis CB
  • 40 Matt Gay S
  • 28 Myron Glass
  • 22 Larry Kennedy CB
  • 42 Mike Salmon S
  • 20 Sebastian Savage CB

Special teams

National players
  • 58 Claus Biedermann OLB/DE Germany
  • 10 Manfred Burgsmüller K Germany
  • 23 Markus Finke RB Germany
  • 75 Peter Gross-Pass DL Germany
  • 71 Olaf Hampel OT Germany
  • 56 Shigemasa Ito LB Japan
  • 94 Takahiro Ikenoue LB Japan


Rookies in italics

[2]

Schedule

Week Date Kickoff [n 1] Opponent Results Game site Attendance
Final score Team record
1 Saturday, April 13 7:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy L 21–27 0–1 Rheinstadion 32,092
2 Saturday, April 20 6:30 p.m. at Amsterdam Admirals L 7–17 0–2 Olympisch Stadion 8,492
3 Saturday, April 27 7:00 p.m. London Monarchs L 20–27 0–3 Rheinstadion 16,104
4 Saturday, May 4 7:00 p.m. Scottish Claymores W 15–14 1–3 Rheinstadion 11,395
5 Sunday, May 12 6:00 p.m. at Barcelona Dragons L 19–21 1–4 Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc 15,742
6 Sunday, May 19 3:00 p.m. at Scottish Claymores L 19–24 1–5 Murrayfield Stadium 12,419
7 Saturday, May 25 7:00 p.m. Barcelona Dragons W 16–12 2–5 Rheinstadion 13,173
8 Saturday, June 1 7:00 p.m. at Frankfurt Galaxy W 31–8 3–5 Waldstadion 38,798
9 Sunday, June 9 3:00 p.m. Amsterdam Admirals L 14–24 3–6 Rheinstadion 20,103
10 Sunday, June 16 3:00 p.m. at London Monarchs L 14–17 3–7 Stamford Bridge 11,125

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

Standings

World League of American Football
Team W L T PCT PF PA Home Road STK
Scottish Claymores 7 3 0 .700 233 190 5–0 2–3 L1
Frankfurt Galaxy 6 4 0 .600 221 220 3–2 3–2 W2
Amsterdam Admirals 5 5 0 .500 250 210 4–1 1–4 L1
Barcelona Dragons 5 5 0 .500 192 230 4–1 1–4 W1
London Monarchs 4 6 0 .400 161 192 3–2 1–4 W1
Rhein Fire 3 7 0 .300 176 191 2–3 1–4 L2

[3] [8]

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

Week One: Frankfurt Galaxy at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Frankfurt 10 0 71027
Rhein 0 0 71421

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, April 13
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 32,092
  • [4]

Week 2: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week Two: Rhein Fire at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 0 0 077
Amsterdam 3 0 7717

at Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Netherlands

  • Date: Saturday, April 20
  • Game time: 6:30 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 8,492
  • [5]

Week 3: vs London Monarchs

Week Three: London Monarchs at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
London 10 3 01427
Rhein 0 3 01720

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, April 27
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 16,104

Week 4: vs Scottish Claymores

Week Four: Scottish Claymores at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Scotland 7 0 0714
Rhein 6 3 3315

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, May 4
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 11,395

Week 5: at Barcelona Dragons

Week Five: Rhein Fire at Barcelona Dragons – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 0 7 01219
Barcelona 6 12 0321

at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain

  • Date: Sunday, May 12
  • Game time: 6:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 15,742

Week 6: at Scottish Claymores

Week Six: Rhein Fire at Scottish Claymores – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 3 3 7619
Scotland 13 11 0024

at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

  • Date: Sunday, May 19
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
  • Game attendance: 12,419

Week 7: vs Barcelona Dragons

Week Seven: Barcelona Dragons at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Barcelona 0 3 9012
Rhein 6 7 0316

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, May 25
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 13,173

Week 8: at Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Eight: Rhein Fire at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 21 7 0331
Frankfurt 0 0 088

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

  • Date: Saturday, June 1
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 38,798
  • [6]

Week 9: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Week Nine: Amsterdam Admirals at Rhein Fire – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Amsterdam 0 10 01424
Rhein 7 0 7014

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

  • Date: Sunday, June 9
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. CEST
  • Game attendance: 20,103
  • [7]

Week 10: at London Monarchs

Week Ten: Rhein Fire at London Monarchs – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Rhein 0 0 01414
London 7 7 0317

at Stamford Bridge, London, England

  • Date: Sunday, June 16
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
  • Game attendance: 11,125

Statistics

Team statistics

Rhein Opponents
Total first downs 180 170
Rushing 57 48
Passing 101 103
Penalty 22 19
Third down: made / attempts 49 / 127 42 / 124
Third down percentage 38.6 33.9
Fourth down: made / attempts 7 / 12 5 / 8
Fourth down percentage 58.3 62.5
Possession average 29:57 30:03
Total net yards 2,708 2,958
Average per game 270.8 295.8
Total plays 600 573
Average per play 4.5 5.2
Net yards rushing 954 720
Average per game 95.4 72.0
Total rushes 225 218
Net yards passing 1,754 2,238
Average per game 175.4 223.8
Sacked / yards lost 19 / 134 19 / 132
Gross yards 1,888 2,370
Attempts / completions 356 / 205 336 / 201
Completion percentage 57.6 59.8
Had intercepted 12 11
Punts / average 41 / 42.3 47 / 40.1
Net punting average 37.9 34.1
Penalties / yards 61 / 448 83 / 648
Fumbles / ball lost 17 / 9 15 / 8
Touchdowns 22 22
Rushing 6 6
Passing 13 14
Returns 3 2
Score by periods Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT Points
Team 43 30 24 79 0 176
Opponents 56 46 23 66 0 191

Notes

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

References

  1. ^ "1996 Round by Round Draft". The Official 1996 World League of American Football Fact Book. pp. 146–147.
  2. ^ a b c "Rhein Fire". The Official 1996 World League of American Football Fact Book. pp. 44–51.
  3. ^ a b "1996 Season In Review". The Official 1997 World League of American Football Fact Book. pp. 71–75.
  4. ^ a b Associated Press (April 13, 1996). "Galaxy 27, Rhein Fire 21". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Associated Press (April 20, 1996). "Admirals 17, Fire 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Associated Press (June 1, 1996). "Rhein Fire 31, Galaxy 8". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  7. ^ a b Associated Press (June 9, 1996). "Admirals 24, Rhein Fire 14". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  8. ^ "1996 WLAF Standings". The Football Database. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
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