Claymores Kick off Season at Site of 2003 World Bowl
April 2, 2003 - National Football League Europa (NFLE)
Scottish Claymores News Release
The Scottish Claymores will kick off their 2003 NFL Europe campaign by hosting two-time defending World Bowl Champion Berlin Thunder on Sunday at Glasgow's Hampden Park, which will play host to World Bowl XI following the season. The Claymores are looking to avenge back-to-back losses to Berln in weeks eight and nine of last season. The Thunder defeated the Claymores 31-23 in Berlin in week eight and edged the home team at Hampden 24-23 in week nine. This will mark the ninth meeting between the two clubs, with Berlin leading the all-time series 5-3. The Claymores will be trying to snap a three-game losing streak against Berlin, having last defeated the Thunder on May 6, 2001, taking that game 28-21 at Hampden, Scotland's national stadium. Sunday's game will be broadcast live in the United States on DirecTV at 3:00 PM local time and 9:00 AM EST. FOX Sports Broadcaster Rich Cellini will handle the U.S. play-by-play, and he will be joined in the broadcast booth by analyst Jason Garrett.
THE HEAD COACHES
GENE DAHLQUIST is on the Claymores' sideline for his third season, and currently carries a record of 9-11 as an NFLE head coach. The 60-year-old head coach brings 30 years college coaching experience to the Claymores and, before moving to NFL Europe, he most recently held the position as offensive passing game coordinator at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in 2000. Prior to joining John Robinson's staff at UNLV, Dahlquist served as offensive coordinator, quarterbacks and receivers coach at the University of Texas from 1992-1997 where he helped direct the Longhorns to three Big XII Conference titles and three bowl appearances. From 1988-91, he was again the offensive coordinator at the University of Illinois, and steered the Fighting Illini offense to one Big Ten Championship and four Bowl appearances under head coach John Mackovic, helping to develop future NFL #1 pick, quarterback Jeff George. Prior to his stint at Illinois, he worked with close friend and former Claymores head coach Jim Criner for 10 years. The two coaches worked together at Iowa State University from 1983-86 and at Boise State University from 1977-82, where Dahlquist served as the offensive coordinator. Together, Dahlquist and Criner helped drive Boise State to five Big Sky Conference titles and one NCAA Division 1-AA National Championship. Prior to coaching at Boise State, Dahlquist was the offensive coordinator at the University of Oregon from 1974-76 and quarterbacks coach at the University of Utah from 1971-73. He kicked off his coaching career as quarterbacks coach at Idaho State University from 1968-70. Dahlquist received his Master's Degree in Education from Idaho State University in 1974, graduating from the University of Arizona with his bachelor's degree in 1965, where he played college football as a quarterback and punter. Following his collegiate career, Dahlquist played professional football from 1965-66 as a quarterback and punter in the Continental Football League in the United States with the Norfolk Neptunes. Dahlquist, a native of Mount Prospect, Illinois, he and his wife Toni currently reside in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Peter Vaas enters his fourth season as head coach of the Berlin Thunder, where he has claimed the past two World Bowl titles, becoming the first coach in the history of NFL Europe to win back-to-back championships. He enters this season with a record of 16-14 as the head man for the Thunder. Vaas earned NFL Europe Coach of the Year honors in 2002 prior to Berlin's win in World Bowl X. He joined the league as an offensive assistant with the Barcelona Dragons and coached two seasons there, 1998-99. Vaas began his coaching career in 1974 as an assistant coach at Allegheny College and from 1979-85 served as offensive coordinator at the University of New Hampshire. In 1986, Vaas returned to Allegheny as their head coach, turning around a team that had not posted a winning record in seven years and guided them to two North Coast Athletic Conference championships. After compiling a 29-11-1 record in four seasons at Allegheny, Vaas became the running backs coach, and later quarterbacks coach at Notre Dame. From 1992 to 1995 Vaas was head coach at Holy Cross before spending a season as the offensive coordinator for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. In his playing days, the native of Westwood, Massachusetts, was quarterback at Holy Cross. He was a three-year starter after walking-on to the team and set nine individual school passing records in his senior season. The 50-year-old is married to Rosann, and they currently reside in Hampton, New Hampshire.
QUOTES FROM THE COACH
Catching up with Claymores' Head Coach Gene Dahlquist for some of his latest thoughts:
(On matching up with Berlin) "I have a great respect for the job coach Vass and his staff have done in the last two seasons and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to compete with them. Games against Berlin Thunder are always hard fought - both teams have always shown a great amount of desire."
(On getting the season underway in Scotland) "There has been speculation in the media, but NFL Europe belongs in Europe and we're happy to be here. Our focus since we left Glasgow last June has been to get back to Scotland and present a team worthy of challenging for World Bowl in our own back yard and we look forward to that task."
SUPER BOWL RINGS ON DISPLAY
The 2003 Scottish Claymores roster features members of each of the past two Super Bowl champions. Wide Receiver Scott McCready became the first English-born player to earn a Super Bowl ring as a member of the Super Bowl XXXVI winning New England Patriots. He is joined by center Jason Scukanec, who was part of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers squad that won Super Bowl XXXVII just a few months ago. The hardware isn't only on the players fingers, though, as Claymores first-year offensive coordinator Ken Margerum also holds a ring, earned in the 1985 season, when the Chicago Bears won Super Bowl XX. .
NFL RIVALS BECOME TEAMMATES
There may be no more bitter rivalries in all of sports than that of the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers, and there is definitely no love between the teams when the Kansas City Chiefs face the Oakland Raiders. But NFL Europe brings players from across the league and puts them on the same sideline, playing next to each other as teammates. The 2003 Claymores feature 27 players allocated from 15 NFL parent clubs.
2003 SEASON OUTLOOK
Head Coach Gene Dahlquist has his team poised to make a run at making World Bowl XI a home game for the Claymores. Dahlquist was pleased with the team's performance in the recently completed training camp in Tampa, Florida. "This was the best training camp that I've ever been around in all my years of football," the coach said as camp came to a close.
The 2003 Claymores are a solid mix of new faces and returning veterans. Returning to the team for another season are K Rob Hart, WR Scott McCready, FS Rowelle Blenman, the leader in career games played in NFLE, FS James Rooths, RB Stephen Hutchinson, LB Yubrenal Isabelle, LB Stuart Hare, WR Scott Couper, DE Robert Flickinger, DE Radell Lockhart, DT DeVonte Peterson and DE Chris Ward.
The offense will be well balanced and is capable of running or passing from any number of different formations. Running backs Ken Simonton and Maurice Hicks look to follow in the footsteps of 2002 NFLE rushing champion Herbert "Whisper" Goodman. Quarterbacks Craig Nall and Shane Stafford will have a number of sure-handed targets including top wideouts Edell Shepherd and Scott McCready.
The defense is based on speed. With many veteran linemen taking care of things up front, the linebackers will show off their ability to cover the entire field. The defensive backs showed an ability to shut down opponents' passing games in Tampa, and look to carry that success over to the regular season.
Dahlquist had this to say about his team's chances of reaching the title game. "If our team can remained focused and relatively injury-free through the season, that will put us in a good position to make a run toward the championship."
COLLEGE TEAMMATES FACE OFF
When the Claymores and Thunder collide on Sunday, many players will see a lot of familiar faces on the other side of the ball. Here's a look at some of the guys will meet former college teammates on Sunday:
Claymores T Justin Bland and Thunder T Aaron Crittendon wire offensive line-mates at the University of Missouri. Yubrenal Isabelle of the Claymores and Berlin's Byron Thweatt were part of the same linebacking corps at the University of Virginia. Claymores CB Dyshod Carter assuredly had some one-on-one match-ups with Thunder RB David Allen when the two were at Kansas State. Scotland CB Jermaine Chatman and Berlin G Yusuf Scott are both former Arizona Wildcats. Thunder T Kyle Kipps blocked for Claymores QB Craig Nall during Nall's years at LSU before his transfer. CLAYMORES OPENING DAY HISTORY
The Claymores are looking to extend their run of good opening day performances. They are 6-2 all-time in season openers and have started each of the past four seasons on a winning note.
Date Opponent Final
4/9/95 Rhein L 17-19
4/14/96 at London W 24-21 (OT)
4/12/97 at Amsterdam W 16-3
4/5/98 at Barcelona L 18-19
4/18/99 Rhein W 21-20
4/16/00 Amsterdam W 28-9
4/21/01 Frankfurt W 24-21
4/14/02 Barcelona W 45-17
4/6/03 Berlin
The 2003 opener marks the first time the Claymores and Thunder have met to kick off the season. Berlin is yet to win a opening day game in their four years of existence.
THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET...
June 9, 2002 Week 9
Berlin Thunder at Scottish Claymores
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Attendance: 11,722
The Berlin Thunder overcame a 23-10 fourth quarter deficit to keep their World Bowl hopes alive with victory over Scotland. With their season on the line, the Thunder scored twice in the final period on Todd Husak's nine-yard pass to wide receiver Dane Looker and Anthony White's one-yard run. After two Claymores field goals from the boot of Lawrence Tynes of 49 yards and the bare foot of Rob Hart from 20 yards, Berlin's Danny Boyd kicked a three-pointer from 38 yards. Berlin cornerback Calvin Branch then intercepted Scott Dreisbach, which set up a 10-play drive, capped by White powering his way into the end zone for a 10-6 lead. Herbert Goodman earned the Claymores a 13-10 lead on a 36-yard scoring dash and Hart's 22-yard field goal stretched the advantage to 16-10 late in the third quarter. Berlin's next drive saw cornerback Todd Franz step in front of a Husak pass and race 33 yards for a Claymores score, making their lead seemingly safe at 23-10. But Berlin responded with Husak, Looker, and White providing the offensive fireworks, while German safety Lelan Brickus came up with a key interception to set up the Thunder's game-winning score.
THUNDER 0 10 0 14 â 24
CLAYMORES 6 7 10 0 â 23
LOOKING AHEAD...
The Scottish Claymores will play their second consecutive home game when they play host to the Frankfurt Galaxy in week two on Sunday, April 13. The Galaxy open their season with a date against the F.C. Barcelona Dragons this Saturday in Frankfurt.
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National Football League Europa Stories from April 2, 2003
- Claymores Kick off Season at Site of 2003 World Bowl - Scottish Claymores
- Admirals Kick off 2003 Season Against Rhein Fire - Amsterdam Admirals
- Week One Injury Report - NFLE
- Champion Thunder Opens 2003 Season - Berlin Thunder
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