2002 was the 10th of 15 seasons for the World League of American Football, and the fifth as NFL Europe. 2002 was, once again, a verycompetitive season as five of the six teams won at least four games. The Rhein Fire (7-3) would come out on top by one game over the Berlin Thunder (6-4) and the Frankfurt Galaxy (6-4). The Rhein Fire and the Berlin Thunder would both qualify for World Bowl X, the Championship game for the 2002 NFL Europe season. The game was played at Rheinstadion in Düsseldorf, Germany on Saturday, June 22, 2002. It would be the final event held at Rheinstadion before its demolition. In this game, the defending champion Berlin Thunder
were hoping to protect their title after going through another 6-4 season. This time, their opponent was the 7-3 Rhein Fire, who won the World Bowl in 2000 and were hoping to take home another title. There were 53,109 fans in attendance (the largest World Bowl crowd since 1998), who witnessed NFL Europe history. The Berlin Thunder became the very first NFL Europe team to win back-to-back World Bowls, thanks to their 26-20 victory over the Fire. Rhein's opening drive came to an abrupt end on the just the second play from scrimmage, as Thunder DE Dwayne Missouri intercepted Fire QB Tee Martin's pass, setting up a 47-yard field goal by Danny Boyd. On their next drive, Thunder QB Todd Husak led an 8-play, 85-yard drive that was capped off with a 41-yard pass to WR Dane Looker. On their next possession (which would be the last one of the quarter), the Thunder failed on three passes to turn an interception into a touchdown. So, they had to settle for a 27-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Berlin's defense prevented the Rhein Fire from getting some needed heat and the Thunder offense managed to get a touchdown near the end of the half, thanks to a 15-yard pass from Husak to Looker. With that touchdown, Berlin entered halftime with a commanding 20-0 lead. In the third quarter, the Fire finally managed to score, thanks to RB Tony Taylor getting an 8-yard TD run. However, the Thunder responded with Boyd's 45-yard field goal. Trailing 23-7 entering the fourth quarter, the Rhein Fire needed points and they needed them fast. The Fire's next touchdown would come from a 2-yard pass from Tee Martin to Scott Cloman. Unfortunately, the two-point conversion pass to Oyeniran Odunayo Ojo failed. To make it even worse, the Thunder responded with a 38-yard field goal by Boyd. Near the end of the game, Fire QB Tee Martin ran in a 1-yard TD. However, by that point of the game, that touchdown meant nothing, since they failed to overcome a huge deficit. When the official clock reached 00:00, the Thunder celebrated their second championship, which was also their first back-to-back championship title.