The Rhein Fire of the European League of Football, ELF, have snagged one of the top receivers in Europe with the signing of French national team and former Philadelphia Eagle and Purdue Boilermaker (NCAA DI), Anthony Mahoungou.
Mahoungou announced his signing with the Rhein Fire in style, donning a Rhein Fire hat in front of hundreds of thousands of viewers as he was working as an NFL analyst with French coverage of the Super Bowl. The talented French veteran commented on joining former NFL head coach Jim Tomsula and the Rhein Fire.
🏈 C'est l'annonce de la soirée pour notre consultant Anthony Mahoungou @AM4_Life : Il va rejoindre … Dusseldorf ! @Rhein_Fire 🇩🇪
L'occasion de venir jouer à Paris le 16 juillet #lequipeNFL #SuperBowl pic.twitter.com/hKTYeGfE7i
— la chaine L'Équipe (@lachainelequipe) February 13, 2023
“I’m glad to join the Rhein Fire organization, we got very high expectations and still have everything to prove to the world. This squad is full of warriors, from coaches to players, and I can’t wait to unleash the fire within me.”
The 6’3″, 210 pound receiver spent the past two seasons with the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL after being selected in the 2021 CFL Global Draft. However, the global talent only spent time on the Redblacks practice squad failing to make an in-game appearance.
With the ninth pick in the #CFLGlobalDraft, the @REDBLACKS select 🇫🇷 REC Anthony Mahoungou pic.twitter.com/VE51vXgs3D
— CFL (@CFL) April 15, 2021
In 2021, Mahoungou played in the ELF inaugural season helping the Frankfurt Galaxy to a championship season, catching 33 passes for 468 yards, and six touchdowns. Following the title game, the lanky red zone threat joined the Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL. Mahoungou spent part of the 2019 season playing for the Frankfurt Universe in the German Football League. In nine games he caught 42 passes for 692 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The 28-year old native of Paris who started playing football in France with the La Courneuve Flash when he was 13, has been a mainstay on the French national team and spent the 2018 preseason with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was signed by the Eagles as a free agent after an outstanding senior year at Purdue University where he had 40 receptions for 688 yards and eight touchdowns for the Boilermakers. He had originally thought he would play defense for Purdue (he idolized Baltimore Ravens legendary safety Ed Reid) but the coaches discovered that he was a natural receiver. Although it took until his senior season for him to truly come into his own, it put him on everyone’s radar. He was close to getting drafted in the 2018 NFL Draft but when he didn’t, the Eagles picked him up as a free agent on draft day, although he was released just before the 2018 regular season.
Le receveur français Anthony Mahoungou (ex-Purdue) signe comme UDFA avec les Eagles de Philadelphie ! @EaglesFR
Son travail et sa détermination ont payé. Nous lui souhaitons bonne chance dans cette nouvelle aventure. @AM4_Life 👏pic.twitter.com/EvUoiHf5Vr— TBP College Football (@thebluepennant) April 29, 2018
He had played one season at West Hills Junior College where he was ranked as the number 18 wide receiver in junior college by 247Sports.com, a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and ESPN.com. He caught 41 passes for 801 yards and nine touchdowns.
The former Philadelphia Eagle is the latest in a growing list of top European talent flocking to the Rhein Fire. So far this off-season, Jim Tomsula and the Rhein Fire management have already scooped up many of the top available players in Europe including NFL IPP prospects Lino Schroeter, Flamur Simon, Leiander Weigand, Alejandro Fernandez, as well as All-Star offensive lineman Joachim Christensen and Yasir Raji, not to mention last year’s leading rusher in Brit Glen Toonga.
