2003 Rhein Fire season

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The 2003 Rhein Fire season was the ninth season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Pete Kuharchek in his third year, and played its home games at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. They finished the regular season in second place with a record of six wins and four losses. In World Bowl XI, Rhein lost to the Frankfurt Galaxy 35–16.

Offseason

Free agent draft

2003 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections
Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice	Player name	Position	College
1	5	Derrick Ham	DE	Miami
2	11	Dwayne Ledford	G	East Carolina
3	14	Gillis Wilson	DE	Southern
4	23	Shad Criss	CB	Missouri
5	26	Lew Thomas	RB	Vanderbilt
6	35	Andre Arnold	LB	Grambling State
7	38	Todd DeLamielleure	LB	Hofstra
8	47	Jonathan Burrough	TE	New Mexico
9	50	Kwazi Leverette	WR	Syracuse
10	59	Greg Brown	S	Texas
11	62	Corey Callens	DE	Oklahoma
12	71	Jamel Smith	LB	Virginia Tech
13	74	Jeff McCurley	C	Pittsburgh
14	83	Ataveus Cash	WR	Hampton
15	86	Lawrence Story	WR	Jackson State
16	95	Frank Moreau	RB	Louisville
17	98	Kendall Newson	WR	Middle Tennessee
18	107	Shane O’Neill	S	Southern Methodist
19	110	Mike Watkins	QB	Louisville
20	118	Bob Dzvonick	DT	Buffalo

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Personnel

Staff

**2003 Rhein Fire staff**

	Front office General manager – Alexander Leibkind Head coaches Head coach/defensive coordinator – Pete Kuharchek Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/wide receivers – Mike Jones Quarterbacks – Scott Milanovich Running backs – Barry Foster Offensive line – Whitey Jordan			Defensive coaches Defensive line/special teams – Ed O'Neil National coach/linebackers – Jörn Maier Defensive backs – Adrian White Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Brian Ferguson

Roster

**2003 Rhein Fire roster**

	Quarterbacks 14 Chris Greisen 12 Nick Rolovich 11 Mike Watkins Running backs 23 Autry Denson 32 Frank Moreau 44 Matt Stanley FB Wide receivers 81 Charlie Adams 89 LaVell Boyd 80 Todd Elstrom 88 Emmett Johnson 87 Kendall Newson Tight ends 47 Dwayne Blakley 45 Chad Mustard 84 Ryan Prince		Offensive linemen 65 Luke Butkus C 73 Pat Crummey G 61 Jim Jones G 75 Dustin Keith C 76 Dwayne Ledford T 62 Scot Osborne T Defensive linemen 91 Andre Arnold DE 92 Corey Callens DE 71 Derrick Ham DE 98 Brad Harris DT 95 Josh McKibben DT 96 Jesse Warren DE		Linebackers 51 Charles Burton OLB 56 Terrance Dukes MLB 52 Jason Johnson MLB 58 Dane Krager OLB 53 Courtney Ledyard MLB 57 Jamel Smith OLB Defensive backs 25 Adesola Badon CB 24 Greg Brown S 30 Teddy Gaines CB 41 Abdual Howard S 20 Lemual Ligon S 37 Tony Lukins CB 39 Tierre Sams CB Special teams 13 Todd France K 6 Jay Taylor P		National players 8 Ingo Anderbrügge K 74 Peter Heyer G 72 Bastian Lano DT 9 Christopher Liess WR 21 Oyeniran Olalere Odunayo Ojo RB 99 Dan Petersson DT 60 Patrick Venzke T 35 Richard Yancy S Rookies in italics

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Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff ^{[n 1]}	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
Week	Date	Kickoff ^{[n 1]}	Opponent	Final score	Team record	Game site	Attendance
1	Saturday, April 5	7:00 p.m.	Amsterdam Admirals	L 15–17	0–1	Arena AufSchalke	28,206
2	Sunday, April 13	4:00 p.m.	at Berlin Thunder	W 21–10	1–1	Olympic Stadium	16,312
3	Saturday, April 19	7:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	W 34–17	2–1	Arena AufSchalke	43,985
4	Saturday, April 26	5:00 p.m.	at Barcelona Dragons	L 3–11	2–2	Mini Estadi	6,182
5	Saturday, May 3	7:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	W 14–7	3–2	Arena AufSchalke	42,324
6	Saturday, May 10	7:00 p.m.	at Amsterdam Admirals	W 34–27	4–2	Amsterdam ArenA	11,672
7	Sunday, May 18	3:00 p.m.	at Scottish Claymores	L 0–33	4–3	Hampden Park	8,279
8	Sunday, May 25	4:00 p.m.	Berlin Thunder	W 28–21	5–3	Arena AufSchalke	27,895
9	Sunday, June 1	4:00 p.m.	at Frankfurt Galaxy	L 7–38	5–4	Waldstadion	25,539
10	Saturday, June 7	7:00 p.m.	Barcelona Dragons	W 33–7	6–4	Arena AufSchalke	28,678

Standings

NFL Europe League
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Frankfurt Galaxy	6	4	0	.600	252	182	4–1	2–3	L1
Rhein Fire	6	4	0	.600	189	188	4–1	2–3	W1
Scottish Claymores	6	4	0	.600	303	190	3–2	3–2	W4
FC Barcelona Dragons	5	5	0	.500	150	221	2–3	3–2	L3
Amsterdam Admirals	4	6	0	.400	230	273	2–3	2–3	L1
Berlin Thunder	3	7	0	.300	248	318	2–3	1–4	W1

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Game summaries

World Bowl XI

World Bowl XI: Rhein Fire vs Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	3	6	0	7	16
Frankfurt	11	14	7	3	35

at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

Date: Saturday, June 14
Game time: 5:06 p.m. BST
Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C), sunny with clear skies
Game attendance: 28,138
Referee: Pete Morelli
TV announcers (FOX): Curt Menefee and Brian Baldinger

Notes

^ All times local to where the game was played.

References

^ "Issa boogies to Barcelona in NFLEL free agent draft". NFL Europe League. February 5, 2003. Archived from the original on February 19, 2003. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
^ "2003 Rhein Fire roster". SI.com. June 13, 2003. Archived from the original on August 4, 2003. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
^ "NFL Europe standings". SI.com. June 8, 2003. Archived from the original on August 4, 2003. Retrieved October 6, 2012.