LEPPER RETURNS TO BERLIN — WITH VIKINGS

The Vienna Vikings return from their bye week on Sunday with a familiar face in unfamiliar colours.

Offensive lineman Felix Lepper, who spent the past two seasons with Berlin Thunder before earning rookie minicamp opportunities with the New York Giants and Kansas City Chiefs, is set to make his Vikings debut against his former team when Vienna visit the German capital on Sunday, July 5th, with the unbeaten Vikings looking to move to 6-0 and retain control at the top of the American Football League Europe standings.

Vienna and Berlin have built a physical rivalry in recent seasons, even if the results have all gone one way, with the Vikings winning each of the previous five meetings, but, this time, the enmity is heightened by Lepper’s immediate return to the place where he established himself as one of the most intriguing offensive line prospects in European football.

At a shade over two metres tall, the 24-year-old brings rare size to a Vienna front already regarded as one of the league’s strengths. His arrival also reunites him with running back Albert Wiesigstrauch, another former Thunder player now part of the Vikings team.

“Felix is a player with exceptional physical qualities and great potential,” Vikings head coach Chris Calaycay said. “He has gained valuable experience at the highest level in the past few months and we are very pleased that he has chosen the Vienna Vikings [on his return to Europe]. The fact that he is already available against Berlin gives us additional quality in our excellent offensive line.”

For Lepper, the timing is almost too neat. Having tested himself in NFL environments, he now returns to European competition with one of the continent’s benchmark organisations — and does so against the franchise he represented in 2023 and 2024. The German admitted that he was looking forward to playing football in Europe again and ‘can hardly wait’ to take the field for Vienna, adding ‘I want to do my part to ensure the team is successful’.

Berlin, meanwhile, will need no reminding of what they are facing. Vienna have dominated throughout the 2026 campaign, and the addition of Lepper suggests the Vikings are not content simply to protect their lead.

Image courtesy Vienna Vikings/Hannes Jirgal