2004 Berlin Thunder season

2004 Berlin Thunder season
Head coach	Rick Lantz
General manager	Michael Lang
Home field	Olympic Stadium
Results
Record	9–1
Division place	1st
Playoff finish	World Bowl XII champion

The 2004 Berlin Thunder season was the sixth season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Rick Lantz in his first year, and played its home games at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of nine wins and one loss. In World Bowl XII, Berlin defeated the Frankfurt Galaxy 30–24. The victory marked the franchise's third World Bowl championship.

Offseason

Free agent draft

2004 Berlin Thunder NFLEL free agent draft selections
Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice	Player name	Position	College
1	1	James Thornton	CB	Morris Brown
2	7	T. J. Bingham	DE	Ouichita Baptist
3	18	Yubrenal Isabelle	LB	Virginia
4	19	Troy Andrew	G	Duke
5	30	DeShaun Hill	S	USC
6	31	DeVonte Peterson	DT	Catawba
7	42	Dwayne Pierce	G	LSU
9	43	Mike Malan	FB	Brown
9	54	Oliver Celestin	S	Texas Southern
10	55	Keith Heyward-Johnson	CB	Oregon State
11	66	Jeff Grzeskowiak	T	Akron
12	67	Michael Jennings	WR	Florida State

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

2004 Berlin Thunder staff

Front office

General Manager – Michael Lang

Head coaches

Head Coach – Rick Lantz

Offensive coaches

Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Don Eck
Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers – Steve Logan
Running Backs – Amp Lee
Offensive Line/Tight Ends – Reggie McElroy

Defensive coaches

Defensive Coordinator – Jim Tomsula
National Coach/Linebackers/Special Teams – Shuan Fatah
Defensive Backs – Rick Smith
Defensive Assistant – D'Marco Farr

Strength and conditioning

Strength and Conditioning – Martin Streight

Roster

2004 Berlin Thunder roster

Quarterbacks

7 Rohan Davey
14 Marc Dunn
12 David Rivers

Running backs

23 Ryan Brewer
40 Ed Ieremia-Stansbury FB
33 Ray Jackson
25 Eric McCoo

Wide receivers

86 Bosley Allen
87 Richard Alston
82 Aaron Boone
83 Chas Gessner
80 LaShaun Ward

Tight ends

88 Bryan Fletcher
85 Mike Pinkard

Offensive linemen

65 Troy Andrew G
69 Ben Claxton C
79 Dante Ellington T
70 Jason Jowers T
75 Dave Kadela T
76 Dion Meredith T
77 Jamil Soriano G

Defensive linemen

99 T. J. Bingham DE
97 LaWaylon Brown DT
93 Israel Idonije DE
95 DeVonte Peterson DT
94 Tank Reese DT
96 Montique Sharpe DT
98 Corey Smith DE

Linebackers

54 Kevin DeRonde OLB
53 Lawrence Flugence OLB
56 Brenden Givan MLB
57 Jason Kazar OLB

Defensive backs

28 Oliver Celestin S
27 Keith Davis S
36 Scott Farley S
22 Willie Ford CB
21 Jermaine Mays CB
24 Darrell Rideaux CB
26 James Thornton CB

Special teams

2 Hayden Epstein P
5 Jonathan Ruffin K

National players

89 Klaus Alinen TE
62 Rolando Cantu T
90 Dennis Engelbrecht DT
43 Philippe Gardent LB
84 Jörg Heckenbach WR
35 Patrice Kancel FB
66 Andre Mathes T
92 Christian Mohr DE
10 Heinz Quast K
46 Astor Schneider LB

Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff ^{[n 1]}	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
Week	Date	Kickoff ^{[n 1]}	Opponent	Final score	Team record	Game site	Attendance
1	Sunday, April 4	4:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	W 20–14	1–0	Olympic Stadium	14,257
2	Saturday, April 10	7:00 p.m.	at Amsterdam Admirals	W 28–17	2–0	Amsterdam ArenA	10,763
3	Sunday, April 18	4:00 p.m.	Cologne Centurions	W 35–31	3–0	Olympic Stadium	12,036
4	Saturday, April 24	7:00 p.m.	at Rhein Fire	W 14–10	4–0	Arena AufSchalke	20,242
5	Sunday, May 2	4:00 p.m.	Amsterdam Admirals	W 33–29	5–0	Olympic Stadium	12,909
6	Saturday, May 8	7:00 p.m.	at Cologne Centurions	L 27–28	5–1	RheinEnergieStadion	10,164
7	Sunday, May 16	4:00 p.m.	Rhein Fire	W 33–20	6–1	Olympic Stadium	15,429
8	Saturday, May 22	7:00 p.m.	at Frankfurt Galaxy	W 31–27	7–1	Waldstadion	30,812
9	Saturday, May 29	2:00 p.m.	at Scottish Claymores	W 27–19	8–1	Hampden Park	9,153
10	Sunday, June 6	4:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	W 41–0	9–1	Olympic Stadium	19,175
World Bowl XII
11	Saturday, June 12	6:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	W 30–24	10–1	Arena AufSchalke	35,413

^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10] ^[11] ^[12]

Standings

NFL Europe League
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Berlin Thunder	9	1	0	.900	289	195	5–0	4–1	W4
Frankfurt Galaxy	7	3	0	.700	212	192	4–1	3–2	L1
Amsterdam Admirals	5	5	0	.500	173	191	3–2	2–3	W2
Cologne Centurions	4	6	0	.400	191	201	3–2	1–4	W1
Rhein Fire	3	7	0	.300	161	178	3–2	0–5	L4
Scottish Claymores	2	8	0	.200	128	197	1–4	1–4	L2

^[13]

Game summaries

Week 1: vs Scottish Claymores

Week One: Scottish Claymores at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scotland	0	7	0	7	14
Berlin	0	10	7	3	20

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Date: Sunday, April 4
Game time: 4:00 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 14,257
Referee: Gerald Austin

Week 2: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week Two: Berlin Thunder at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	0	7	14	7	28
Amsterdam	0	10	0	7	17

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Date: Saturday, April 10
Game time: 7:07 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 10,763
Referee: Carl Cheffers

Week 3: vs Cologne Centurions

Week Three: Cologne Centurions at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	7	14	3	7	31
Berlin	21	7	7	0	35

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Date: Sunday, April 18
Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 12,036
Referee: Bill Vinovich

Week 4: at Rhein Fire

Week Four: Berlin Thunder at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	0	0	0	14	14
Rhein	7	3	0	0	10

at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Date: Saturday, April 24
Game time: 7:04 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 20,242
Referee: Gene Steratore

Week 5: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Week Five: Amsterdam Admirals at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Amsterdam	0	7	7	15	29
Berlin	0	12	7	14	33

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Date: Sunday, May 2
Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 12,909
Referee: Ed Hochuli

Week 6: at Cologne Centurions

Week Six: Berlin Thunder at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	7	7	0	13	27
Cologne	14	0	7	7	28

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

Date: Saturday, May 8
Game time: 7:04 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 10,164
Referee: John Parry

Week 7: vs Rhein Fire

Week Seven: Rhein Fire at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	0	7	13	20
Berlin	3	14	7	9	33

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Date: Sunday, May 16
Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 15,429
Referee: Carl Cheffers

Week 8: at Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Eight: Berlin Thunder at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	10	7	7	7	31
Frankfurt	0	20	7	0	27

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

Date: Saturday, May 22
Game time: 7:08 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 30,812
Referee: Gerald Austin

Week 9: at Scottish Claymores

Week Nine: Berlin Thunder at Scottish Claymores – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	0	6	7	14	27
Scotland	10	3	3	3	19

at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Date: Saturday, May 29
Game time: 2:05 p.m. BST
Game attendance: 9,153
Referee: Walt Anderson

Week 10: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Ten: Frankfurt Galaxy at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	0	0	0	0
Berlin	3	17	7	14	41

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

Date: Sunday, June 6
Game time: 4:15 p.m. CEST
Game attendance: 19,175
Referee: Bill Vinovich

World Bowl XII

Main article: World Bowl XII

World Bowl XII: Frankfurt Galaxy vs Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	3	7	0	14	24
Berlin	7	3	13	7	30

at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Date: Saturday, June 12
Game time: 6:06 p.m. CEST
Game weather: 60 °F (15.6 °C), roof closed
Game attendance: 35,413
Referee: Bill Vinovich
TV announcers (FOX): Curt Menefee and Brian Baldinger

Notes

↑ All times local to where the game was played.

References

↑ NFL Europe League (February 8, 2004). "Thornton first selection in Free Agent Draft" (Press release). Retrieved February 8, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (March 29, 2004). "Champs kick off 12th season" (Press release). Retrieved March 29, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (April 7, 2004). "NFLEL season rolls on as Week 1 winners face teams looking for first victory of new campaign" (Press release). Retrieved April 7, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (April 13, 2004). "Unbeaten rivals clash in Week 3" (Press release). Retrieved April 13, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (April 20, 2004). "Thunder and Galaxy look to break free from pack" (Press release). Retrieved April 20, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (April 27, 2004). "Undefeated Thunder on top as season approaches halfway point" (Press release). Retrieved April 27, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (May 4, 2004). "Galaxy, Thunder clear of chasing pack as season's second half kicks off" (Press release). Retrieved May 4, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (May 11, 2004). "Thunder one victory away from World Bowl berth" (Press release). Retrieved May 11, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (May 18, 2004). "Thunder clinches World Bowl berth" (Press release). Retrieved May 18, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (May 25, 2004). "Galaxy reaches World Bowl for sixth time" (Press release). Retrieved May 25, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (June 1, 2004). "World Bowl foes meet in regular season finale" (Press release). Retrieved June 1, 2013.
↑ NFL Europe League (June 7, 2004). "Thunder, Galaxy bid to make NFLE history on 'Night of the Last Fight'" (Press release). Retrieved June 7, 2013.
↑ "2004 NFLE Standings". The Football Database. Retrieved February 8, 2013.

Berlin Thunder

Founded in 1999 Folded in 2007 Based in Berlin, Germany

The Franchise	Franchise Coaches

Stadiums	Jahn-Sportpark Olympic Stadium

Head coaches	Wes Chandler Peter Vaas Rick Lantz John Allen

World Bowl appearances (4)	IX X XII XIII

League championships (3)	2001 2002 2004

Seasons	1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

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