Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Rhein Fire
The Rhein Fire is a franchise in NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Germany in 1995, depending on your view the franchise either was the resurrected and relocated Birmingham Fire of the 1991-1992 WLAF seasons, or was a new and separate franchise.
The team is based in Düsseldorf, returning there for the 2005 season having played its home games in the nearby city of Gelsenkirchen for two years while the LTU Arena (the stadium it shares with the football (soccer) club Fortuna Düsseldorf ) was being built on the site of the Rheinstadion, torn down in 2002. The Fire will also host the 2005 World Bowl, the fourth time they have done so.
Rhein Fire has arguably been one of NFL Europe's most successful teams with regard to both fan appeal and competitively on the field, where it has played for five World Bowl championships, winning two of them.
As with all teams in NFL Europe, the roster of players is predominantly comprised of American "developmental" players assigned by the member teams of the National Football League. These players live in Europe during the springtime season, as do their coaches, with their living expenses paid by the NFL in addition to their salaries, which are meager by professional sports standards. There are a small, but growing, number of "position players" of European extraction as well, and also European kicking specialists.
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