The Hamburg Huskies, have tapped into German American football history bringing in NFL Europe legend Werner Hippler to lead the club.
Hippler will take over from Huskies president Martin Sieg, who wants to devote more time to marketing and developing sponsorship for the club.
The Huskies, who won their final four games of the German Football League season to salvage what looked like a dismal 2017, are making major strides in the offseason to change the direction of the team and the addition of Hippler is a sign they intend to improve. Since arriving in the top league in 2015 the team has won a total of 13 of 40 games.
“I love football and see a lot of potential in the team, but also in Hamburg. In addition, yes, my son Dennis plays with the Huskies. That’s why I’m stepping in to help with my experience, my knowledge and my contacts.”
Hippler, 47, the leader in games played in NFL Europe with 108, is from Cologne, Germany and played for the Cologne Centurions but the majority of his career was with the Frankfurt Galaxy. He played college football at Sacramento State for the Division I-AA Hornets. Hippler signed with the San Diego Chargers and spent two years on their practice squad. He later went a full camp with the Detroit Lions and played one year in the short-lived XFL for the Las Vegas Outlaws. He finished his playing career in 2007 after 14 years.
Since retiring from playing, Hippler has been running a successful Cologne-based security company, Rhein Security:
“I’m not a magician who can only change everything because of his name and his contacts. But I want us to make this GFL football team a business with solid fundamentals, both on the field and off. I am known for making fast decisions and for my reliability. On the field, we want to develop the team so that in two or three years we have a team that can play for the German Bowl and also win it. “