# 2000 Rhein Fire season

The 2000 Rhein Fire season was the sixth season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Galen Hall in his sixth year, and played its home games at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses, qualifying for the league final for the third time in four years. Rhein won the second championship in team history by defeating the Scottish Claymores 13–10 in World Bowl 2000.

## Offseason
### Free agent draft

2000 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College |
| Round | Choice | Player name | Position | College |
| 1 | 4 | Rome Douglas | T | Southern California |
| 2 | 10 | Michael Early | C | Norfolk State |
| 3 | 15 | Terrance Joseph | S | Tulsa |
| 4 | 22 | Everett Burnett | WR | Kansas State |
| 5 | 27 | Pepe Pearson | RB | Ohio State |
| 6 | 34 | Daniel Jones | WR | Utah |
| 7 | 39 | Stephen Fisher | CB | North Carolina |
| 8 | 46 | Dan Collins | G | Boston College |
| 9 | 51 | Derrick Steagall | WR | Georgia Tech |
| 10 | 58 | Thomas Guynes | T | Michigan |
| 11 | 63 | Dusty Renfro | LB | Texas |
| 12 | 70 | Kevin Cooper | WR | Mississippi State |
| 13 | 75 | William Carr | DT | Michigan |
| 14 | 82 | Tim Martin | DE | Tulsa |
| 15 | 87 | Matthew Hickl | S | Texas A&M-Kingville |
| 16 | 94 | Mark Smith | LB | Arkansas |
| 17 | 99 | Scott Whittaker | T | Kansas |
| 18 | 106 | Nakia Reddick | S | Central Florida |
| 19 | 111 | Kevin Drake | WR | Alabama-Birmingham |
| 20 | 118 | James Clyburn | DT | North Carolina A&T |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site | Attendance |
| 1 | Saturday, April 15 | 7:00 p.m. | Barcelona Dragons | W 28–17 | 1–0 | Rheinstadion | 28,924 |
| 2 | Saturday, April 22 | 7:00 p.m. | at Amsterdam Admirals | L 20–23 | 1–1 | Amsterdam ArenA | 13,285 |
| 3 | Saturday, April 29 | 7:00 p.m. | Frankfurt Galaxy | W 34–27 | 2–1 | Rheinstadion | 43,129 |
| 4 | Saturday, May 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at Barcelona Dragons | W 18–7 | 3–1 | Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc | 21,200 |
| 5 | Saturday, May 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Scottish Claymores | W 22–10 | 4–1 | Rheinstadion | 30,537 |
| 6 | Sunday, May 21 | 3:00 p.m. | at Berlin Thunder | L 21–25 $^{OT}$ | 4–2 | Jahn-Sportpark | 10,273 |
| 7 | Saturday, May 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Berlin Thunder | W 28–27 | 5–2 | Rheinstadion | 33,437 |
| 8 | Sunday, June 4 | 7:00 p.m. | at Frankfurt Galaxy | W 53–14 | 6–2 | Waldstadion | 41,351 |
| 9 | Saturday, June 10 | 3:00 p.m. | at Scottish Claymores | L 24–31 | 6–3 | Hampden Park | 10,196 |
| 10 | Sunday, June 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Amsterdam Admirals | W 31–28 | 7–3 | Rheinstadion | 37,113 |
| World Bowl 2000 ||||||||
| 11 | Sunday, June 25 | 7:00 p.m. | Scottish Claymores | W 13–10 | 8–3 | Waldstadion | 35,860 |

## Standings

NFL Europe League :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | STK |
| Rhein Fire | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 279 | 209 | 5–0 | 2–3 | W1 |
| Scottish Claymores | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 273 | 165 | 4–1 | 2–3 | L1 |
| Barcelona Dragons | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 194 | 212 | 2–3 | 3–2 | W1 |
| Amsterdam Admirals | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 206 | 243 | 3–2 | 1–4 | L3 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 206 | 269 | 1–4 | 3–2 | W2 |
| Berlin Thunder | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 189 | 249 | 3–2 | 1–4 | L1 |

## Game summaries
### World Bowl 2000

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rhein | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Scotland | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany
* Date: Sunday, June 25
* Game time: 7:07 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 17 °C (63 °F), cloudy
* Game attendance: 35,860
* Referee: Bill Leavy
* TV announcers (FOX): Sam Rosen and Bill Maas
Game information :
First quarter
Rhein – 21-yard field goal by Manfred Burgsmüller, 9:48.
Scotland – Aaron Stecker 36-yard touchdown run, Rob Hart kick good, 8:38.
Second quarter
Scotland – 32-yard field goal by Rob Hart, 9:03.
Rhein – 23-yard field goal by Manfred Burgsmüller, 4:59.
Third quarter
No scoring.
Fourth quarter
Rhein – Pepe Pearson 1-yard touchdown run, Manfred Burgsmüller kick good, 1:12.
Leading passers
Rhein – Danny Wuerffel – 12/30, 90 yards, 2 interceptions.
Scotland – Kevin Daft – 16/29, 177 yards, 1 interception.
Leading rushers
Rhein – Pepe Pearson – 14 rushes, 61 yards, 1 touchdown.
Scotland – Aaron Stecker – 13 rushes, 92 yards, 1 touchdown.
Leading receivers
Rhein – Jeff Ogden – 3 receptions, 26 yards.
Scotland – Donald Sellers – 4 receptions, 56 yards. :