The Berlin Thunder were a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

team in

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

History

The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games from 1999 to 2002 were played at

Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark The Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark is a multi-purpose sports complex located in the western part of the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Prenzlauer Berg in the Boroughs and localities of Berlin, borough of Pankow in Berlin. The sp ...

and one game in 2006. Olympiastadion was the home stadium from 2003 to 2007. They were the second team in league history to use the Thunder name, following the

Orlando Thunder The Orlando Thunder was a member of the World League of American Football from 1991 to 1992. The team played their games in the 70,000 seat Florida Citrus Bowl, and was coached by Don Matthews in 1991 and Galen Hall in 1992. The team's most visi ...

from 1991 to 1992. The Thunder won the

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football, later called NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The first World Bowl was played ...

3 times:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

(a year that they went 9–1). They also made it to the World Bowl in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

but were defeated by the

Amsterdam Admirals The Amsterdam Admirals were a professional American football team based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, playing in the NFL Europe. History The Admirals were formed in 1995 as part of the NFL's plan to restart the World League of American Football, t ...

21–27. Two Berlin

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

s, Rohan Davey (2004) and Dave Ragone (2005), were named NFL Europe Offensive Most Valuable Players.

Linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Rich Scanlon (2005) was named NFL Europe Defensive MVP. In 2006, the Thunder had three players earn All-NFL Europe honors:

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Chad Beasley and

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Anthony Floyd earned all-league honors at their respective positions and German

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Christian Mohr was honored as the national player on the defensive all-league team. On 1 April 2006, the Thunder recorded their 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 in which neither team could come up with a point. 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 London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football (WLAF). The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs. In 1999, they were re ...

, also 17-17. An unrelated team of the same name is to play in the inaugural 2021 season of the new

European League of Football The European League of Football (ELF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football sports league, league based in Europe, continuing some team names and logos of the former NFL Europe. The ELF played its first season in 2 ...

Season-by-season

Head coaches

Notable players

* Lance Moore – WR (2006) * Richard Adjei – LB (2007) * Richard Yancy - S (2000/2001) *

David Akers David Roy Akers (; born December 9, 1974) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles. He began his career in 1998 with the Wa ...

– K (1999) *

Chris Barclay Chris Barclay (born October 15, 1983) is an American football coach and former running back who is the running backs coach for the Louisville Cardinals. He played college football at Wake Forest. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undra ...

– RB (2007) *

Lang Campbell Lang Campbell (born September 25, 1981) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the Arena Football League (AFL) and NFL Europe. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in ...

– QB (2005) *

Travis Lulay Travis Lulay (born September 27, 1983) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. Lulay played ten seasons for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 2009 to 2018. In his first season as a full-time starter, Lulay wo ...

– QB (2007) * Rohan Davey – QB (2004) * Anthony Floyd – S (2005) * Chas Gessner – S (2004) * Ben Hamilton – C (2002) * Tim Hasselbeck – QB (2002) * Madre Hill – RB (2001) * Israel Idonije – DE (2004) *

Brian Moorman Brian Donald Moorman (born February 5, 1976) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Pittsburg State Gorillas, and was signed by the Seattle ...

– P (2000–2001) * Dave Ragone – QB (2005) * Brian Simnjanovski – P/K (2005) * Brian Waters – C/OG (2000) * Phil Stambaugh – QB (2003) * Ahmad Hawkins – CB (2002) * Tony Pape – G (2005)

References

External links

* {{NFLE Defunct American football teams in Germany NFL Europe (WLAF) teams Sports clubs and teams in Berlin American football teams established in 1999 American football teams disestablished in 2007 1999 establishments in Germany 2007 disestablishments in Germany