2006 Rhein Fire season
# 2006 Rhein Fire season

The 2006 Rhein Fire season was the 12th season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Jim Tomsula in his first year, and played its home games at LTU arena in Düsseldorf, Germany. They finished the regular season in third place with a record of six wins and four losses.

## Offseason

### Free agent draft

2006 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections :

| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Round | Choice | Player name | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | Ja'Waren Blair | DT | East Carolina |
| 2 | 7 | Ronyell Whitaker | CB | Virginia Tech |
| 3 | 18 | Brian Atkinson | LB | Northern Illinois |
| 4 | 19 | Terrence Robinson | LB | Oklahoma State |
| 5 | 30 | Guy Tuell | LB | Wyoming |
| 6 | 31 | Sacha Lancaster | DE | Arkansas |
| 7 | 42 | Derrick Strong | DE | Illinois |
| 8 | 43 | Jameel Dumas | LB | Syracuse |
| 9 | 54 | Johnathanio Conley | DL | Southeastern Louisiana |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site | Attendance |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site | Attendance |
| 1 | Saturday, March 18 | 7:00 p.m. | Frankfurt Galaxy | W 10–6 | 1–0 | LTU arena | 22,827 |
| 2 | Saturday, March 25 | 6:00 p.m. | at Berlin Thunder | W 22–0 | 2–0 | Olympic Stadium | 13,105 |
| 3 | Sunday, April 2 | 4:00 p.m. | at Cologne Centurions | W 20–10 | 3–0 | RheinEnergieStadion | 16,961 |
| 4 | Saturday, April 8 | 7:00 p.m. | Hamburg Sea Devils | W 31–21 | 4–0 | LTU arena | 18,224 |
| 5 | Saturday, April 15 | 3:00 p.m. | at Amsterdam Admirals | L 31–35 | 4–1 | Amsterdam ArenA | 12,683 |
| 6 | Saturday, April 22 | 7:00 p.m. | Amsterdam Admirals | L 21–30 | 4–2 | LTU arena | 20,118 |
| 7 | Saturday, April 29 | 7:00 p.m. | Berlin Thunder | W 27–24 | 5–2 | LTU arena | 20,598 |
| 8 | Saturday, May 6 | 7:00 p.m. | at Frankfurt Galaxy | L 14–16 | 5–3 | Commerzbank-Arena | 32,172 |
| 9 | Sunday, May 14 | 4:00 p.m. | at Hamburg Sea Devils | L 10–13 | 5–4 | AOL Arena | 16,823 |
| 10 | Saturday, May 20 | 7:00 p.m. | Cologne Centurions | W 21–10 | 6–4 | LTU arena | 28,334 |

## Standings

NFL Europe League :

| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | STK |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Amsterdam Admirals | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 259 | 234 | 2–3–0 | 5–0–0 | L1 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 7 | 3 | 0 | .700 | 172 | 160 | 4–1–0 | 3–2–0 | W1 |
| Rhein Fire | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 207 | 165 | 4–1–0 | 2–3–0 | W1 |
| Cologne Centurions | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 151 | 170 | 2–3–0 | 2–3–0 | L1 |
| Hamburg Sea Devils | 3 | 6 | 1 | .350 | 194 | 193 | 1–3–1 | 2–3–0 | W3 |
| Berlin Thunder | 2 | 7 | 1 | .250 | 180 | 241 | 1–4–0 | 1–3–1 | L5 |

## Game summaries

### Week 1: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Frankfurt | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Rhein | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

* Date: Saturday, March 18
* Game time: 7:06 p.m. CET
* Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), roof closed
* Game attendance: 22,827
* Referee: Terry Brown

### Week 2: at Berlin Thunder

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rhein | 6 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 22 |
| Berlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

* Date: Saturday, March 25
* Game time: 6:07 p.m. CET
* Game weather: 39 °F (4 °C), cloudy with light rain
* Game attendance: 13,105
* Referee: Gene Steratore

### Week 3: at Cologne Centurions

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rhein | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Cologne | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

* Date: Sunday, April 2
* Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C), partly cloudly
* Game attendance: 16,961
* Referee: Craig Wrolstad

### Week 4: vs Hamburg Sea Devils

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Hamburg | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Rhein | 0 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 31 |

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

* Date: Saturday, April 8
* Game time: 7:05 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C), roof closed
* Game attendance: 18,224
* Referee: Alberto Riveron

### Week 5: at Amsterdam Admirals

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rhein | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Amsterdam | 14 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 35 |

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

* Date: Saturday, April 15
* Game time: 3:06 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C), roof open, fair
* Game attendance: 12,683
* Referee: John Parry

### Week 6: vs Amsterdam Admirals

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Amsterdam | 14 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 30 |
| Rhein | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

* Date: Saturday, April 22
* Game time: 7:06 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), roof open, mostly cloudy
* Game attendance: 20,118
* Referee: Craig Wrolstad

### Week 7: vs Berlin Thunder

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Berlin | 0 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 24 |
| Rhein | 0 | 14 | 3 | 10 | 27 |

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

* Date: Saturday, April 29
* Game time: 7:05 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 46 °F (8 °C), roof closed
* Game attendance: 20,598
* Referee: Carl Cheffers

### Week 8: at Frankfurt Galaxy

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rhein | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Frankfurt | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 16 |

at Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Germany

* Date: Saturday, May 6
* Game time: 7:04 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), sunny
* Game attendance: 32,172
* Referee: Gene Steratore

### Week 9: at Hamburg Sea Devils

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Rhein | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| Hamburg | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |

at AOL Arena, Hamburg, Germany

* Date: Sunday, May 14
* Game time: 4:05 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), partly cloudy
* Game attendance: 16,823
* Referee: Alberto Riveron

### Week 10: vs Cologne Centurions

| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cologne | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Rhein | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

at LTU arena, Düsseldorf, Germany

* Date: Saturday, May 20
* Game time: 7:06 p.m. CEST
* Game weather: 52 °F (11 °C)
* Game attendance: 28,334
* Referee: Greg Meyer

## Honors

After the completion of the regular season, the All-NFL Europe League team was selected by the NFLEL coaching staffs, members of a media panel and fans voting online at NFLEurope.com. Overall, Rhein had four players selected. The selections were:

* Aaron Halterman, tight end
* Terrence Robinson, linebacker
* Derrick Strong, defensive end
* Ronyell Whitaker, cornerback
