Hamburg Sea Devils re-sign homegrown edge rusher Berend Grube

The Hamburg Sea Devils extend the contract of defensive end Berend Grube for another year and thus secure the services of a "local hero" and All-Star of the European League of Football. Not without reason, the 30-year-old is supported by his own fan club, the "Berend Grube Ultras". With five and a half sacks, 14 tackles for loss, a fumblere covery and a forced fumble, Grube made a big contribution to the strong defense the Sea Devils delivered, making them the second highest ranked defense in the league.

Homegrown College-football Honorable Mention

Berend Grube himself has not had enough yet. "It's our goal to have the best defense in the league and become champions. Personally, I want to step it up a notch to become even better," the 1.97-meter-tall defensive end talks about his aspirations in the press release and concretizes his decision: "We always talk about the 'Brotherhood', that's exactly how it's lived here. You challenge each other and maintain a high standard. On top of that, I trust and value our coaching-staff.”

The Luebeck native was able to show off his athleticism early on. From the river Trave with the Luebeck Cougars youth, Grube starred through to high school, eventually joining Division III Thiel College where he was primarily a tight end and kicker until 2013, even earning two “Honorable Mention All-Pac” honors. Back with the Cougars, he was used more and more as an edge rusher, accounting for nine total sacks and 27 tackles for loss in his final season there.

Even more next season?

Kendral Ellison, Defensive Coordinator about Grube: "In Berend we retained one of our defensive leaders. Beyond the fact that he was an All-Star last season, he was and remains to be one of the most disruptive defensive linemen in Europe. His combination of size, speed, and IQ really makes him a key part of our defense and without a doubt a guy that we had to return. He’s an All-Star that feels like he could have done much better last season, so I’m looking forward to him being even more productive this season.”

In addition to Grube, Hiswill Awuah, Tim Hänni, Evans Yeboah and Nelson Imasuen were recently signed or re-signed by the Hamburg Sea Devils

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