NFL allocates 192 players to NFLE
February 4, 2003 - National Football League Europa (NFLE) News Release
A quarterback who started the final game of the 2002 NFL season will bid to help the Berlin Thunder defend their World Bowl crown after being named among 192 players allocated to the NFL Europe League by NFL teams.
HENRY BURRIS, who started the Chicago Bears' season finale against the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is joining the back-to-back champion Thunder for the new season, which kicks off on April 5 and culminates in World Bowl XI at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on June 14
The NFLEL quarterback class of 2003 also includes young guns like SHAUN HILL of the Minnesota Vikings, bound for Amsterdam, and the San Diego Chargers' SETH BURFORD, who joins the F.C. Barcelona Dragons. Meanwhile, the defensive players heading across the Atlantic include a former league MVP.
Commenting on the NFL player allocation for 2003, JOHN BEAKE, NFL Vice-President of Football Operations, said: "Once again, we are very pleased with the support the NFL teams have shown for NFL Europe. Even though teams were only required to send three players each, many have gone far beyond that and have given us a pool of players who will provide exciting football for the fans in Europe this season.
"As a response to comments from the fans, we have also tried to leave the door open for more free agent players to return to the league this year and the fans will have some familiar names to cheer as well exciting new stars."
Burris, whose Berlin team is bidding to win a third straight World Bowl, threw three touchdown passes during the 2002 NFL season and, during his college career, set 10 Big East Conference records in three years as a starter at Temple. Green Bay Packers quarterback ZAK KUSTOK has also been assigned to the Thunder.
Burris said: "I am very excited about going to Europe. First and foremost I want to win a championship. You need to play this game to get comfortable with it. What better way than to go over and try to keep the championship tradition going in Berlin. If I can do that then maybe I can put myself in pole position for the Bears' quarterback job."
The NFLEL's quarterback class of 2003 are all aware of the opportunities presented by playing overseas. A total of 24 quarterbacks have gone on to start in the NFL after playing in the NFLEL, including Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Brad Johnson (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams). The Amsterdam Admirals, for whom Warner played in 1998, have been assigned quarterbacks Hill, from the Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons' DAVID RIVERS. In 2001, Hill led the University of Maryland to its first Atlantic Coast Conference title in 16 years and a top-10 ranking.
Hill said: "The only chance I had to get on the field this past year was during preseason games so I'm excited about this opportunity. I have heard Amsterdam is a great city and I'm looking forward to seeing another culture and experiencing life in Europe."
The F.C. Barcelona Dragons will have the Chargers' Burford and the New Orleans Saints' CHRIS FINLEN competing for the starting quarterback position. Burford, all-time passing leader at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, said: "I have heard a lot of good things about coach Jack Bicknell and I'm really looking forward to learning from him this season. I feel confident the NFL Europe League will really help my career, especially when you see people like Brad Johnson and Kurt Warner playing in the Super Bowl."
In Frankfurt, the Jacksonville Jaguars' QUINN GRAY, who passed for 57 touchdowns at Florida A & M, and WES PATE of the Seattle Seahawks, who threw 51 touchdown passes at Stephen F. Austin, are the NFL-allocated quarterbacks.
The Denver Broncos' NICK ROLOVICH, a two-year starting quarterback at the University of Hawaii, is joined at the Rhein Fire by free agent CHRIS GREISEN, from North West Missouri State, who had three years with the Arizona Cardinals from 1999 to 2001.
The Claymores have been allocated New England Patriots quarterback SHANE STAFFORD, who was in Scotland's training camp last year and is the all-time passing leader at Connecticut, where he threw for 8,975 yards and 73 touchdowns. The Claymores will also be assigned another quarterback in the near future.
Of the players assigned in other positions, the running backs heading to Europe will be looking to continue a streak of League MVP performances stretching back over the past four seasons.
Former Notre Dame rusher AUTRY DENSON has been assigned to the Fire from the Detroit Lions, having played in 14 NFL games, including 12 for the Miami Dolphins, gaining 212 rushing yards and recording 18 catches.
Denson said: "History shows that the NFL Europe league has given running backs the opportunity to show that they can play the game and produce on a consistent level. I have set high goals for myself coming into the NFLEL season and hopefully will be able to meet them."
Former Lion SEDRICK IRVIN is joining Berlin from the Miami Dolphins after recovering from a knee injury. The former Michigan State player scored four touchdowns, rushed for 182 yards and caught 33 passes for Detroit during 1999 and 2000.
KEN SIMONTON, who has been assigned to the Scotttish Claymores from the Buffalo Bills, was a four-year starter at Oregon State, ended his college career as the school's all-time leading rusher with 5,044 yards rushing for 100 yards in a game 26 times.
On defense, former league MVP ROSHAUN MATTHEWS returns to the league after being allocated by the Chicago Bears. Matthews had 9.5 sacks for the Admirals in 2001.
In the NFL Allocated Player Draft, Barcelona made New Orleans Saints guard MELVIN PAIGE the first overall pick. He was one of two guards taken in the first round, with the Claymores selecting the Pittsburgh Steelers' DAVID COSTA.
The other four first-round selections were defensive players, with Amsterdam picking Houston Texans linebacker TERRELL WASHINGTON, Frankfurt selecting Philadelphia Eagles defensive end DARYL WHITTINGTON, Rhein picking linebacker COURTNEY LEDYARD of the New England Patriots and New Orleans safety SHAWN BYRDSONG going to Berlin.
All 32 NFL teams have allocated players to the NFLEL for the 2003 season, with the Chicago Bears leading the way with 13 players, followed by the Kansas City Chiefs, who allocated 10 players, the Green Bay Packers (9), and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos (8).
Ten NFL kickers and punters will be assigned to NFLEL teams following kicking camp, held as part of the league's training camp in Tampa Bay, Florida.
ASSIGNMENT OF NFL ALLOCATED PLAYERS
NFLEL team Name Pos NFL Team College
Amsterdam Shaun Hill QB Minnesota Maryland
Amsterdam David Rivers QB Atlanta Western Carolina
Amsterdam Johnathan Reese RB New York Jets Columbia
Amsterdam Tellis Redmon RB Seattle Minnesota
Amsterdam Wes Ours FB Pittsburgh West Virginia
Amsterdam Justin Skaggs WR Washington Evangel
Amsterdam Kenny Clark WR Minnesota Central Florida
Amsterdam Darcey Levy WR Pittsburgh Pittsburgh
Amsterdam Craig Osika C/G San Francisco Indiana
Amsterdam Mike Collins G Baltimore Wake Forest
Amsterdam Lawrence Smith T Baltimore Tenessee State
Amsterdam Taman Bryant TE New York Giants Rowan
Amsterdam Mike Cecere DE Washington Delaware
Amsterdam Scott Pospisil DE San Diego Iowa
Amsterdam Maurice Anderson DT Miami Virginia
Amsterdam Josh Hotchkiss LB New York Giants Western State (CO)
Amsterdam Todd Howard CB St. Louis Michigan
Amsterdam Jason Waters CB (WR) Atlanta Tenessee
Amsterdam Glenn Sumter S Houston Memphis
Barcelona Seth Burford QB San Diego Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo
Barcelona Chris Finlen QB New Orleans Northern Illinois
Barcelona Dameon Hunter RB Baltimore Utah
Barcelona Tyree Foreman FB Chicago Virginia
Barcelona Zek Parker WR Arizona Louisville
Barcelona T.C. Taylor WR New England Jackson State
Barcelona Pete Rebstock WR (KR) Kansas City Colorado State
Barcelona Troy Andrew G/C Miami Duke
Barcelona Shawn Lynch C (L/S) Kansas City Duke
Barcelona Akil Smith T Washington Clemson
Barcelona Matt Cercone TE Jacksonville Arizona State
Barcelona Kevin Aldridge DE Tennessee Southern Methodist
Barcelona Merceda Perry DE Buffalo North Carolina
Barcelona Darian Tate DT Carolina Walsh
Barcelona Dwayne Levels LB Cincinnati Oklahoma State
Barcelona Tito Rodriguez LB Cincinnati Central Florida
Barcelona Jason Olford CB Jacksonville Louisiana Tech
Barcelona Bruce Branch CB Washington Penn State
Barcelona James Lewis S Detroit Miami
Berlin Henry Burris QB Chicago Temple
Berlin Zak Kustok QB Green Bay Northwestern
Berlin David Allen RB (KR) Jacksonville Kansas State
Berlin Sedrick Irvin RB Miami Michigan State
Berlin Jarrett Ferguson FB Buffalo Virginia Tech
Berlin Pierre Brown WR Detroit Wayne State
Berlin Elijah Thurmon WR Chicago Howard
Berlin Kirk Rogers WR Kansas City Hardin Simmons
Berlin Bill Ferrario G Green Bay Wisconsin
Berlin Josh Warner C Chicago Brockport (NY)
Berlin Aaron Crittendon T Kansas City Missouri
Berlin Chris Smith T New York Jets CAL-Davis
Berlin Chad Hayes TE Tennessee Maine
Berlin Bryan Fletcher TE Chicago UCLA
Berlin Roshaun Matthews DE Chicago Southern U.
Berlin Curry Dawson DT Chicago Angelo State
Berlin Josh Symonette LB Miami Tennessee Tech
Berlin Jamal White LB Oakland Kentucky
Berlin Travis Coleman CB Chicago Hampton
Berlin Clint Finley S Kansas City Nebraska
Frankfurt Quinn Gray QB Jacksonville Florida A&M
Frankfurt Wes Pate QB Seattle Stephen F. Austin
Frankfurt Robert Gillespie RB Washington Florida
Frankfurt Corey McIntyre FB Philadelphia West Virginia
Frankfurt Robert Baker WR Miami Auburn
Frankfurt Marc Lester WR Baltimore Morgan State
Frankfurt Nate Turner WR New Orleans UNLV
Frankfurt Zack Quaccia C San Diego Stanford
Frankfurt Mike Clare G New England Harvard
Frankfurt Lorenzo White G Minnesota Iowa
Frankfurt Kendrick Rogers T Arizona Alabama A&M
Frankfurt Kori Dickerson TE Philadelphia USC
Frankfurt Bobby Collins TE Atlanta North Alabama
Frankfurt Joey Evans DE Seattle North Carolina
Frankfurt Luis Almanzer DT Seattle Southwest Missouri
Frankfurt Idris Price LB Tampa Bay New Haven
Frankfurt Jody Littleton LB (L/S) Detroit Baylor
Frankfurt Kalvin Pearson CB Cleveland Grambling
Frankfurt Chris Young S Denver Georgia Tech
Rhein Nick Rolovich QB Denver Hawaii
Rhein Chris Greisen QB -- NW Missouri State
Rhein Autry Denson RB Detroit Notre Dame
Rhein Matt Stanley FB San Francisco UCLA
Rhein Charlie Adams WR Denver Hofstra
Rhein Emmett Johnson WR Seattle Virginia Tech
Rhein Lavell Boyd WR Houston Louisville
Rhein Luke Butkus C San Diego Illinois
Rhein Jim Jones G Baltimore Notre Dame
Rhein Pat Crummey G New York Giants Youngstown State
Rhein Brian Crawford T Seattle Western Oregon
Rhein Dwayne Blakely TE Kansas City Missouri
Rhein Devon Finn DE Denver Illinois State
Rhein Brad Harris DT New York Giants Pittsburgh State
Rhein Josh McKibben DT (L/S) Tampa Bay Central Florida
Rhein Abdual Howard S Jacksonville Florida State
Rhein Harold Robertson LB Kansas City Texas A&M
Rhein Tony Lukins CB Oakland New Mexico State
Rhein Teddy Gaines CB Chicago Tenessee
Rhein Tierre Sams CB Cincinnati Fresno State
Scotland Shane Stafford QB New England Connecticut
Scotland Maurice Hicks RB Chicago North Carolina A&T
Scotland Kenneth Simonton RB Buffalo Oregon State
Scotland Mike Malan FB New England Brown
Scotland Edell Shepherd WR Chicago San Jose Sate
Scotland Scott McCready WR New England South Florida
Scotland John Minardi WR Houston Colorado
Scotland Jason Scukanec C Tampa Bay Brigham Young
Scotland Kenny Sandlin C Minnesota Arkansas
Scotland Jeff Grzeskowiak G/T Chicago Akron
Scotland James Broyles G (L/S) St. Louis SW Missouri State
Scotland Rashod Kent TE Houston Rutgers
Scotland Tramaine Bingham DE Kansas City Ouachita Baptist
Scotland Michael Landry DE Kansas City Southern U.
Scotland Nate Bolling DT Baltimore Wake Forest
Scotland Isaac Keys LB Green Bay Morehouse
Scotland Dyshod Carter CB New England Kansas State
Scotland James Rooths CB (KR/PR) Tampa Bay Shepherd College
Scotland Bobby Jackson S (KR) Green Bay Illinois
NFL-ALLOCATED KICKERS AND PUNTERS (to be assigned)
Jason Witczak K Buffalo SE Missouri State
Jay Taylor K Cleveland West Virginia
Todd France K Minnesota Toledo
Joe O'Donnell K Oakland Maryland
Kevin Stemke P Miami Wisconsin
Adam Wulfeck P Detroit Cincinnati
Nick Murphy P Minnesota Arizona State
Steve Cheek P NY Giants Humboldt State
Rhett Kopp P St Louis Carson-Newman
Tim Morgan P Green Bay San Jose State
NFL ALLOCATED PLAYER DRAFT 2003
Round NFLEL Team Name Pos NFL Team College
1 Barcelona Melvin Paige G New Orleans South Carolina
1 Amsterdam Terrell Washington LB Houston Illinois
1 Scotland David Costa G Pittsburgh Wisconsin
1 Frankfurt Daryl Whittington DE Philadelphia Missouri
1 Rhein Coutney Ledyard LB New England Michigan State
1 Berlin Shawn Byrdsong S New Orleans Mississippi State
2 Barcelona Shane Grice G Chicago Mississippi
2 Amsterdam Louis Green LB Denver Alcorn State
2 Scotland Justin Bland T Oakland Justin Bland
2 Frankfurt Michael Moore G Atlanta Troy State
2 Rhein Dane Krager LB Seattle Angelo State
2 Berlin Jeff Harris CB Denver Georgia
3 Berlin Eugene Baker WR Carolina Kent State
3 Rhein Wayne Smith G Denver Appalachian State
3 Frankfurt Chris Pointer CB Carolina Calgary
3 Scotland Alge Atkinson LB Oakland Kansas
3 Amsterdam Kerry Hood WR Jacksonville South Carolina
3 Barcelona Ryan Prince TE Oakland Weber State
4 Barcelona Jeff Chaney RB Atlanta Florida State
4 Amsterdam Tommy Moody G Carolina Florida
4 Scotland Jermaine Petty LB Green Bay Arkansas
4 Frankfurt Nate Morrow LB Tennessee Vanderbilt
4 Rhein Shawn Mills WR Green Bay Southern Mississippi
4 Berlin Chaz Murphy LB Detroit Kansas
5 Berlin Jermaine White WR Tampa Bay Kentucky
5 Rhein Dustin Keith C/G Dallas Virginia
5 Frankfurt Pete Campion G Seattle N. Dakota State
5 Scotland Todd Elstrom WR Tampa Bay Washington
5 Amsterdam Kirk McMullen TE Carolina Pittsburgh
5 Barcelona Sean Morey WR Philadelphia Brown
6 Barcelona Kerwin Cook WR New Orleans Cook
6 Amsterdam Travis Williams WR Green Bay Navy
6 Scotland Robbie Robinson S St Louis Colorado
6 Frankfurt Jon Pendergrass WR Seattle Southern Illinois
6 Rhein Milton Proctor S Buffalo Kansas State
6 Berlin Isaiah Harris DE Atlanta St Cloud State
7 Berlin Sean Scott WR Philadelphia Millersville
7 Rhein Charles Burton LB Arizona Syracuse
7 Frankfurt Shawn Terry WR Miami West Virginia
7 Scotland David Thompson WR NY Giants Holy Cross
7 Amsterdam Than Merrill S Tampa Bay Yale
7 Barcelona Dimitrius Breedlove WR Cleveland Evangel
8 Barcelona Kevin DeRonde DE Dallas Iowa State
8 Amsterdam Paul LaCoste S Indianapolis Mississippi State
8 Scotland Joe Johnson T Dallas Central Missouri
8 Frankfurt Brian Haugabrook WR Green Bay Florida
8 Rhein Royd Williams WR Indianapolis Alabama-Birmingham
8 Berlin Michael Coleman WR Atlanta Widener
9 Berlin Alonzo Cunningham G San Francisco Iowa
9 Rhein Adesola Badon CB Carolina Mississippi
9 Frankfurt Ronald Boldin G Buffalo Florida State
9 Scotland Nate Bandy TE Tennessee Tennessee-Chattanooga
9 Amsterdam Hilton Alexander WR San Francisco Morris Brown
9 Barcelona Jeff Brunson CB Denver Colorado
10 Barcelona Milford Stephenson C/G San Francisco Kansas State
10 Amsterdam Raymonn Adams RB NY Jets Doane College
10 Scotland Brandon Moore G NY Jets Illinois
10 Frankfurt Jeremy Unertl S Green Bay Wisconsin-LaCrosse
10 Rhein Lemual Ligon CB San Diego Savannah State
10 Berlin Jovon Bush T New Orleans Clemson
11 Berlin Kyle Kipps T Tampa Bay Louisiana State
11 Rhein Chad Mustard TE Cleveland North Dakota
11 Frankfurt David Viger G NY Jets Navy
11 Scotland Rodney Trafford TE New England South Carolina
11 Amsterdam Jevonte Philpot WR NY Jets Howard
11 Barcelona Kevin Jordan S Indianapolis Robert Morris
12 Barcelona David Sherrod T Miami Eastern Washington
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