The 2021 ELF season was the inaugural season of the European League of Football, a newly formed professional American football league based in Europe. It started on June 19, 2021, and ended with the ELF Championship Game in Düsseldorf's Merkur Spiel-Arena, on September 26, 2021. Frankfurt Galaxy won the title, beating Hamburg Sea Devils 32-30.
The league is divided into two divisions, North and South. Each team plays 10 games during the regular season: twice against their division rivals, and twice against two of the teams from the other division. The top two teams in each division qualify for the playoffs, with the North and South champions qualifying for the Championship Game.
For the inaugural season, the ELF is mostly using adapted NFL rules, as opposed to adapted NCAA rules which virtually all other European American football leagues use. There is a limit of two "Americans" (a category which also includes some other non-European nationalities) per down but people who are dual citizens of the U.S. and an EU-member country are not counted towards that limit in keeping with the Bosman ruling. Unlike in most other European American football leagues there is overtime during regular season games that are still tied after regulation, but the overtime rules are based on NCAA rules.
For its first season, the league pays a salary to American "import" players that generally ranges from â¬600 (around $700) to â¬3,000 ($3,500) per month, and provides housing, health insurance and two meals per day to players during the season. Despite claims to the contrary by the league, most "local" players did not get paid during the 2021 season.
The inaugural Championship Game, between the North and South division champions, was played on September 26, at Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf. In a game in which the lead changed more than once, Frankfurt, not confident enough of the quality of their placekicker, opted for two-point conversions after every single touchdown (only one out of five being successful), and not attempting a single field goal. Meanwhile, Hamburg's kicker Phillip Friis Andersen, who led the league in successful attempts during the regular season and won "Special Teams Player of the year", missed 2 FG attempts, including one from 61 yards on the last play, that could have won the game for Hamburg.
The Championship MVP trophy was won by Frankfurt QB Jakeb Sullivan, who passed for 324 yards, with 4 TD and no interceptions, and added another rushing TD.
The inaugural All-Star Game was held one week after the end of the season, on October 3 (the Day of German Unity), at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark in Berlin. It featured a selection of the best players from the ELF, playing against the United States Federation of American football All-Stars. Earlier, the league had advertised the game as the ELF all-stars playing against the United States national team.
Games without fans are not counted in averages or games played. All teams started the season with capacity restrictions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 1. October 2021 the "ELF Honors" were presented at RCADIA Hotel in Hamburg. The following players received the awards mentioned below:
The following players invited to the NFL's International Combine, assigned to NFL's International Player Pathway Program (IPPP), signed or drafted by CFL team or signed with USFL team following their involvement with The ELF in 2021:
The following players signed with a CFL team:
The following players got drafted in the CFL's Global draft: