Frankfurt Galaxy

World League of American Football (1991-1992 & 1995-1997)
NFL Europe (1998-2006)
NFL Europa (2007)

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Background

The Frankfurt Galaxy were the only team to compete in all 15 season of the World League of American Football / NFL Europe, the NFL’s on-again/off-again spring developmental league. The Galaxy also won more World Bowl championships – four – than any other team in the league’s history.

The World League launched in 1991 with ten teams spread across Europe, Canada and the United States. The European teams – Barcelona, Frankfurt and London – were popular. The North American teams, for the most part, met with apathy and the league’s television ratings in the United States were anemic.

The 1991 Galaxy were a strong club, finishing 7-3 in their inaugural season. Diminutive NFL veteran running back Tony Baker (5′ 10″, 182 pounds) keyed the offense and led the WLAF in yards from scrimmage. The Galaxy’s final regular season home game at Waldstadion on May 25, 1991 against the Sacramento Surge drew a league record crowd of 51,653 fans.

Hiatus & Re-Boot

After two seasons of play, NFL owners pulled the plug on the WLAF in September 1992. The league did not operate in 1993 or 1994, but efforts went on behind the scenes to re-work the World League concept.  The league returned as a Europe-only circuit in the spring of 1995. The three original European clubs in Barcelona, Frankfurt and London all returned, along with new teams in Amsterdam, Edinburg (Scotland) and Dusseldorf (Germany).

The Galaxy defeated the Amsterdam Admirals 26-22 at Amsterdam’s Olympisch Stadion on June 17, 1995 to capture their first World Bowl title.

One of the big knocks on the World League/NFL Europe over the years was that it developed very few impact players for its NFL sponsors. The two outlier success stories were kicker Adam Vinatieri and future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who both played for Amsterdam in the 1990’s before attaining stardom in the NFL.

The Galaxy only developed one impact player for the NFL in their 15 seasons of play. Quarterback Jake Delhomme was part of an unusual two-quarterback platoon system with Pat Barnes in 1999. Both played well and together they led the Galaxy to their second World Bowl title in June 1999. As they had all season, the duo split snaps in the title game. Both threw touchdown passes in a 38-24 victory over the Barcelona Dragons. Four years later, Delhomme led the Carolina Panthers to Super Bowl XXXVIII against the New England Patriots. Delhomme came out on the losing side when fellow World League alum Vinatieri booted a game-winning field goal for the Patriots with four seconds remaining.

Final Seasons & Demise of NFL Europe

The Galaxy went on to win two more World Bowl titles in 2003 and 2006.  By this time, the league was known as NFL Europe after a 1998 re-branding. Teams in London, Scotland and Spain folded in the early 2000’s. By 2005, five of the six NFL Europe franchises were based in Germany.

The Galaxy hosted the final NFL Europe game on June 23, 2007, losing World Bowl XV to the Hamburg Sea Devils by a score of 37-28. A crowd of 48,125 turned out for the game which was broadcast back in the United States on NFL Network. The NFL announced the closure of NFL Europe six days later on June 29, 2007.

Trivia

The late Jack Elway, the Galaxy’s first head coach in 1991, was the father of Pro Football Hall-of-Fame quarterback John Elway. The Galaxy’s first General Manager back in 1991, Oliver Luck, is the father of Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck. Both sons played quarterback at Stanford University and both were #1 overall selections in the NFL Draft by the Colts (Elway in 1983, Luck in 2012).

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Global Fashion

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WLAF Logo T-Shirt

Hope springs eternal, it seems, that someone will make professional spring football work in the United States. But even the NFL itself couldn’t make it happen with its own short-lived developmental league of the early ’90’s. Still, there’s never been another league that gave us rivalries like Birmingham versus Barcelona…

This World League of American Football logo tee is available from our partners at American Retro Apparel in both Sport Grey and White. Sizes small through XXXL available today!

 

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Editor's Pick

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The Proving Ground

A Season on the Fringe in NFL Europe

By Lars Anderson

 

Author Lars Anderson brings to life the compelling drama of NFL Europe by spending a season with the Scottish Claymores. Anderson lived with the players at a hotel in Glasgow, Scotland, spending every waking minute with them-eating and heading out to the pubs as the Claymores made their championship run. Along with detailing the life and times of the Claymores, Anderson digs deep into the background of the players and coaches to help explain why some succeed and others fail in their quest to make it to that shining city on the hill–the NFL.

 

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Frankfurt Galaxy Video

World Bowl XII between the Berlin Thunder and Frankfurt Galaxy. June 12, 2004.

In Memoriam

Head Coach Jack Elway (Galaxy ’91-’92) died of a heart attack on April 15, 2001 at the age of 69. San Francisco Chronicle obituary.

Head Coach Ernie Stautner (Galaxy ’95-’97) passed away on February 16, 2016 from complications of Alzheimer’s Disease. The Pro Football Hall-of-Famer was 80 years old. New York Times obituary.

Fullback Wes Bender (Galaxy ’96) passed away on March 5, 2018 of an apparent heart attack. He was 47 years old.

Links

World League of American Football Media Guides

World League of American Football Programs

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