The World Bowl, championship game of NFL Europe that was played
on June 25, 2000, featured the Rhein Fire, winners of the title two years
earlier, against the Scottish Claymores, champions in 1996 but coming off of
two straight losing campaigns. The teams split their meetings during the
regular season.
The Fire, coached by Galen Hall for the sixth year, had
the developmental league’s second-rated passer in QB Danny Wuerffel, who topped
the circuit with 25 touchdowns and 2042 yards while giving up just seven
interceptions for a rating of 107.2. They finished at the top of the standings
with a 7-3 record.
The Claymores went 6-4 under Head Coach Jim Criner, also
in his sixth season at the helm. While they had the lesser record, they had RB Aaron
Stecker (pictured above), the league’s MVP and leading rusher with 774 yards who also paced the
team in pass receiving with 36 catches, and QB Kevin Daft had edged Wuerffel
for the passing title with a 107.3 rating while tossing for 19 TDs against just
three interceptions.
The game was held at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt,
Germany with 35,860 fans in attendance. The Fire struck first on their initial
possession of the game, driving 51 yards in 11 plays before finally being stopped
at the four yard line. The series resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Manfred
Burgsmuller. The Claymores responded in rapid fashion, taking just three plays
to travel 75 yards. Aaron Stecker gained nine yards, Kevin Daft threw to H-back
Willy Tate for 30, and then Stecker ran 36 yards for a touchdown. With Rob
Hart’s extra point, Scotland held a 7-3 lead.
In the second quarter, the Claymores put together a
12-play, 52-yard series , and Hart’s field goal made it 10-3. Rhein came back
with an eight-play possession that was also capped by a field goal, this one by
Burgsmuller covering 23 yards. The score at halftime was 10-6.
The game settled into a defensive stalemate in the second
half, with neither team scoring in the third quarter. The tough Claymore
defense continued to hold, and when the Fire got the ball with 5:07 remaining
on the clock, the situation appeared dire. However, Rhein then put together a
43-yard drive in eight plays that resulted in a one-yard TD carry by RB Pepe
Pearson (pictured below). Burgsmuller added the extra point to give the Fire a three-point lead.
There was still time for the Claymores to come back, and
Daft completed four passes as they drove into Rhein territory. But with eight
seconds left, a 40-yard field goal attempt by Hart sailed wide to the left to
clinch the 13-10 win for the Fire.
“It was a great feeling when I scored,” said Pepe Pearson
of his game-winning touchdown. “Our offensive line did the job and I got it in
the end zone.”
“I’m so proud of our team and our coaches,” said Galen
Hall. “I thought it would come down to the last seconds, and it certainly did.”
QB Danny Wuerffel completed just 12 of 30 passes for 90
yards and no touchdowns while giving up two interceptions, but was sharp on the
game-winning drive. For the Claymores, Aaron Stecker rushed for 92 yards on 13
carries that included a TD and Kevin Daft was successful on 16 of 29 throws for
177 yards and one interception.
Wuerffel, a former Heisman Trophy winner, was currently a
free agent hoping to parlay his NFL Europe success into a NFL contract. He was
signed by Green Bay, saw no action, and moved on to the Bears and Redskins,
where he was reunited with his college coach, Steve Spurrier, and started four
games in his last pro season.
Aaron Stecker, who had been loaned to the Claymores by
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, spent four seasons with the Bucs before moving on to
New Orleans for five years and finishing up with the Falcons. A career backup
in the NFL, he rushed for 1526 yards, gained another 1175 yards on 166 pass
receptions, and averaged 23.1 yards on 170 kickoff returns.
With the win over the Claymores, Galen Hall became the
first coach in the developmental league’s history to win two championships. Both
head coaches departed for the short-lived XFL in 2001, Hall with the Orlando
Rage and Jim Criner coaching the Las Vegas Outlaws.
Neither team qualified for the World Bowl in 2001. Rhein
went 5-5 to finish third and the Claymores sank to 4-6 and fifth place. The
Fire returned to first place in ’02 but lost the Championship game to Berlin. For
the Claymores, the World Bowl appearance in 2000 was the team’s last.
Go Fire.
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