Berlin Thunder
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The Berlin Thunder are an American football team based in Berlin, Germany, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF) since 2021.
History[edit | edit source]
Initially, a group of investors led by Roman Motzkus, a former Berlin Adler player and football commentator, planned to establish an ELF team in Berlin, but talks with the ELF broke down in March 2021. Shortly thereafter, the ELF announced that Berlin would still be represented in the league under a different operating company (FBG Football Berlin GmbH). The Thunder's shareholders were Marko Rehmer, Thomas Ebeling, concert promoter Ronny Boldt and entrepreneur and managing director of FBG Levon Melikian. Through a cooperation agreement between the ELF and the National Football League (NFL), the team took over the name of the Berlin Thunder from NFL Europe, which had existed from 1999 to 2007.
The team's first head coach was Canadian Jag Bal, who was fired after the 2021 season. The franchise's first general manager, from May to September 2021, was Heiko von Glahn.
2021 Season[edit | edit source]
Thunder finished the first season in fourth place in the North Division with three wins and seven losses. With Nicolai Schumann, Wael Nasri and Adedayo Odeleye, three Berlin athletes were named to the league's first All Star Team. On September 12, 2021, Thunder announced that former German NFL pro Björn Werner became part of the franchise as co-owner and sports director. Diana Hoge was introduced as Heiko von Glahn's successor a few weeks later.
2022 Season[edit | edit source]
In preparation for the 2022 season, Johnny Schmuck was introduced as the new head coach on September 30, 2021. The team showed itself stronger than the year before. Until the last game day, they kept the chance for the playoffs, but then lost against the Raiders Tirol with 10:37. At the same time, they were able to increase the spectator average to over 3,500.
2023 Season[edit | edit source]
Berlin Thunder moved to the new Eastern Conference for the 2023 season. New quarterback Slade Jarman was signed. The season was the Thunder's best to date, with eight wins and four defeats. There were straight wins against three opponents, the new franchises from Fehervar and Prague as well as against Leipzig. They won at home against the Wroclaw Panthers and the Hamburg Sea Devils, but lost away from home. On the other hand, they narrowly lost twice against the defending champions Vienna Vikings: 24-27 at home and 9-16 in Vienna. Berlin finished the regular season in second place in the Eastern Conference and thus advanced to the playoffs, which were expanded to six teams, for the first time. In the wild card round, they were clearly outclassed by Frankfurt Galaxy when the game was abandoned five minutes before the end due to serious injuries to a player and a member of staff.
2024 Season[edit | edit source]
For the 2024 season, the Thunder signed Jakeb Sullivan from the Galaxy as their new quarterback. The Berlin American Football Academy club was the first flag football team in the German Flag Football League 3 in 2024.
Thunder started the season with a defeat in Wroclaw. After two wins against Prague and Fehervar, they narrowly lost to the favored teams Vikings and Fire. In both games, the Berliners led at half-time and let victory slip from their grasp in the final period. This continued throughout the season. Time and again, the Berliners were only able to convince for one half. They finished the season with five wins and seven defeats and clearly missed out on the playoffs.
After the season, Björn Werner retired as sports director and also as owner. At the beginning of October 2024, the demolition of the Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Sports Park began, to be followed by a new building.
2025 Season[edit | edit source]
Ulrich Kramer became the new general manager in October 2024. [1]
Stadium[edit | edit source]
The Thunder played the first two games of the 2021 season at Olympiapark-Amateurstadion and then moved to Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark.
Players[edit | edit source]
Top Players[edit | edit source]
| Quarterback | Year | G | COMP | ATT | CMP% | YDS | TD | INT | SCK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Germinerio | 2022 | 12 | 169 | 306 | 55.2 | 2443 | 21 | 9 | 24 |
| Slade Jarman | 2023 | 7 | 169 | 263 | 64.3 | 2017 | 21 | 8 | 10 |
| Receiver | Year | G | RRC | TGT | YDS | CTCH % | YPG | YPC | LNG | TD | TD/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robin Wilzeck | 2022-23 | 22 | 84 | 128 | 1666 | 65.6 | 75.7 | 19.8 | 70 | 14 | 0.6 |
| Aaron Jackson | 2023 | 11 | 67 | 114 | 886 | 58.8 | 80.5 | 13.2 | 65 | 15 | 1.4 |
| Nicolai Schumann | 2021-23 | 32 | 58 | 100 | 809 | 58.0 | 25.3 | 13.9 | 66 | 10 | 0.3 |
| Seantavius Jones | 2021 | 10 | 40 | 84 | 674 | 47.6 | 67.4 | 16.9 | 83 | 12 | 1.2 |
| Running | Year | G | ATT | YDS | AVG | YPG | LNG | TD | TD/G | FMB | FML |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jocques Crawford | 2021-22 | 22 | 398 | 2145 | 5.4 | 97.5 | 81 | 16 | 0.7 | 13 | 10 |
2025 Roster[edit | edit source]
Quarterbacks
Running backs
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs Special teams
|
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
2024 Roster[edit | edit source]
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Injured reserve
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
2023 Roster[edit | edit source]
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Injured reserve
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
| ||||||
2022 Roster[edit | edit source]
Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
| ||||||
2021 Roster[edit | edit source]
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Names with a strikethrough = season ending
Rookies in italics | ||||||
Staff[edit | edit source]
Head Coaches[edit | edit source]
| Name | Tenure | Record | Titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | |||
| Jag Bal | 2021 | 3 | 7 | - |
| Johnny Schmuck | 2022-2024 | 20 | 17 | - |
| Jag Bal | 2025 - current | 0 | 0 | - |
2024 Staff[edit | edit source]
|
Front office
Head coach
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Assistant coaches
Strength and conditioning
| |||||
Total record[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Thunder | 46 | 22 | 24 | 0.478 | 1269 | 1090 | +179 |
Record per Season[edit | edit source]
| Season | Conference | Rank | Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | North | 4 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0.300 | 228 | 296 | |
| 2022 | Northern | 2 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 0.583 | 321 | 282 | |
| 2023 | Eastern | 2 | 12 | 8 | 4 | 0.667 | 378 | 188 | Wild card round @ Frankfurt Galaxy 3-20 |
| 2024 | Eastern | 3 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 0.417 | 378 | 318 |
Record per Opponent[edit | edit source]
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fehérvár Enthroners | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 186 | 12 | +174 |
| Prague Lions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 165 | 37 | +128 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 78 | 19 | +59 |
| Istanbul Rams | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 79 | 21 | +58 |
| Cologne Centurions | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 73 | 36 | +37 |
| Barcelona Dragons | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.500 | 35 | 51 | -16 |
| Panthers Wrocław | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.500 | 221 | 242 | -21 |
| Leipzig Kings | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0.400 | 138 | 129 | +9 |
| Hamburg Sea Devils | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0.167 | 101 | 207 | -106 |
| Paris Musketeers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 64 | 75 | -11 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 3 | 20 | -17 |
| Rhein Fire | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 38 | 74 | -36 |
| Raiders Tirol | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 26 | 65 | -39 |
| Vienna Vikings | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 62 | 102 | -40 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
