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Berlin Thunder is an American football team based in Berlin, Germany, that plays in the European League of Football (ELF) since 2021.
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.
| Week | Date | Away Team | Home Team | Venue | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18.05.2025 | Cologne Centurions | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | 14–63 |
| 2 | 25.05.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Munich Ravens | Sportpark Unterhaching, Unterhaching | 16–38 |
| 3 | 01.06.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Nordic Storm | Gladsaxe Stadion, Søborg | 0–35 |
| 4 | 07.06.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Hamburg Sea Devils | Stadion Hoheluft, Hamburg | 14–31 |
| 5 | 15.06.2025 | Fehérvár Enthroners | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | 21–38 |
| 6 | 22.06.2025 | Munich Ravens | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | 35–12 |
| 7 | 29.06.2025 | Rhein Fire | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | 44–7 |
| 9 | 13.07.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Cologne Centurions | Südstadion, Cologne | vs. |
| 10 | 20.07.2025 | Nordic Storm | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | vs. |
| 11 | 27.07.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Rhein Fire | Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena, Duisburg | vs. |
| 13 | 09.08.2025 | Berlin Thunder | Fehérvár Enthroners | First Field, Székesfehérvár | vs. |
| 14 | 17.08.2025 | Hamburg Sea Devils | Berlin Thunder | Preussenstadion, Berlin | vs. |
Ulrich Kramer became the new general manager in October 2024. [1] In 2025 he was replaced by Rasheed Moka.
They signed Jag Bal as new Headcoach after the contract from Johnny Schmuck was expired after the Season 2024.They also signed Adam Rita as their new Offensive Coordinator and Art Valero as the new Offensive Line Coach. Both coaches have a lot experience in coaching in North America and Europe.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.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.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.The Thunder played the first two games of the 2021 season at Olympiapark-Amateurstadion and then moved to Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark. The stadium was closed after the 2024 season and will be renewed. For the 2025 season Berlin Thunder moved to Preussenstadion.
This section shows the performance data of selected players of the corresponding team.
Only players who have at least 50 passing attempts for this team are included
| Name | # Exp | G | CMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT | SCK | CMP% | YPG | Y/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jakeb Sullivan | 2 | 18 | 403 | 639 | 5076 | 38 | 21 | 36 | 63.1% | 282.0 | 7.9 |
| Joe Germinerio | 1 | 12 | 169 | 306 | 2443 | 21 | 9 | 24 | 55.2% | 203.6 | 8.0 |
| Slade Jarman | 1 | 8 | 180 | 291 | 2121 | 21 | 10 | 13 | 61.9% | 265.1 | 7.3 |
| Calvin Stitt | 1 | 10 | 91 | 206 | 1225 | 15 | 7 | 19 | 44.2% | 122.5 | 5.9 |
| Donovan Isom | 1 | 4 | 47 | 81 | 587 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 58.0% | 146.8 | 7.2 |
| Paul Stubbe | 1 | 11 | 31 | 56 | 330 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 55.4% | 30.0 | 5.9 |
Only players who have received for at least 500 career yards for their team are included in this list.
| Name | # Exp | GP | Rec | Tgt | Yds | TD | Ctch% | YPC | RPG | YPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Jackson | 2 | 23 | 143 | 228 | 2115 | 26 | 62.7% | 14.8 | 6.2 | 92.0 |
| Robin Wilzeck | 3 | 29 | 107 | 175 | 2022 | 20 | 61.1% | 18.9 | 3.7 | 69.7 |
| Nicolai Schumann | 5 | 50 | 92 | 160 | 1225 | 14 | 57.5% | 13.3 | 1.8 | 24.5 |
| Bais Kouanda | 3 | 26 | 93 | 144 | 1038 | 5 | 64.6% | 11.2 | 3.6 | 39.9 |
| Seantavius Jones | 1 | 10 | 40 | 84 | 674 | 12 | 47.6% | 16.9 | 4.0 | 67.4 |
| Albert Wiesigstrauch | 3 | 27 | 67 | 92 | 604 | 2 | 72.8% | 9.0 | 2.5 | 22.4 |
| Bryan Zerbe | 3 | 28 | 52 | 97 | 579 | 4 | 53.6% | 11.1 | 1.9 | 20.7 |
Only players who scored at least 20 points are included in this list.
| Player | Seasons Active | GP | FG Made | FG Att | FG % | FG Long (Max) | XP Made | XP Att | XP % | FG PTS | XP PTS | Total PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonas Schenderlein | 4 | 40 | 34 | 51 | 66.7% | 56 | 51 | 90 | 56.7% | 102 | 51 | 153 |
| Dominik Eberle | 1 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 50.0% | 52 | 18 | 22 | 81.8% | 12 | 18 | 30 |
Only players who have at least 500 rushing yards for this team are included
| Player | # Exp | GP | Rush Att | Rush YDS | Avg | Rush LNG | Rush TD | Fumbles Lost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jocques Crawford | 2 | 22 | 398 | 2145 | 5.4 | 81 | 16 | 10 |
| Tim Schulz | 3 | 30 | 171 | 595 | 3.5 | 19 | 4 | 3 |
| Albert Wiesigstrauch | 3 | 28 | 160 | 569 | 3.6 | 59 | 10 | 2 |
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Off the roster
Roster updated July 11, 2025 | ||||||
| Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
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Injured reserve
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| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
Injured reserve
Practice squad
Roster updated 18 August 2023 | ||||||
Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends |
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
|
Practice squad
updated 04 June 2022 | ||||||
| Quarterbacks
Running backs Wide receivers
Tight ends
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen |
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams |
| ||||||
| Coach | Tenure | Record | Playoffs | Titles | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jag Bal | 2021, 2025 | 5–12 | 0 | 0 | .294 |
| Johnny Schmuck | 2022 – 2024 | 19–17 | 1 | 0 | .528 |
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin Thunder | 53 | 24 | 29 | 0.453 | 1419 | 1308 | +111 |
| 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 | |
| 2025 | North | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.286 | 150 | 218 |
| Games | Win | Loss | Win % | P+ | P- | PDiff | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fehérvár Enthroners | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | 224 | 33 | +191 |
| Prague Lions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.000 | 165 | 37 | +128 |
| Cologne Centurions | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 136 | 50 | +86 |
| Stuttgart Surge | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 78 | 19 | +59 |
| Istanbul Rams | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 79 | 21 | +58 |
| 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 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0.143 | 115 | 238 | -123 |
| Paris Musketeers | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 64 | 75 | -11 |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 3 | 20 | -17 |
| Nordic Storm | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0 | 35 | -35 |
| Raiders Tirol | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 26 | 65 | -39 |
| Vienna Vikings | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 | 62 | 102 | -40 |
| Munich Ravens | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 | 28 | 73 | -45 |
| Rhein Fire | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0.000 | 45 | 118 | -73 |
Source: https://elfdata.eu/
