National players from around the world kick off NFL Europe League pre-season action in Tampa Bay

February 21, 2005 - National Football League Europa (NFLE) News Release

NFL Europe League pre-season action kicks off in the Tampa Bay area for the fifth year in a row on Monday February 21 as the leading home-grown products from around the world compete in a week-long National Player mini-camp.

More than 70 athletes from 13 countries outside of North America will be put through two-a-day practices at Lakewood High School in St. Petersburg before the top 48 prospects are assigned to the rosters of the six NFLEL teams at the end of this week.

Overseeing the talent on display in Florida will be NFL Europe Director of International Player Development TONY ALLEN and Senior Manager of Game and Player Development JEFF REINEBOLD, who boasts extensive experience coaching on the professional and collegiate level in the United States, Canada and Europe.

With several well-known NFLEL national players retiring in the off-season, the league will look to fresh talent in 2005 with 46 rookies attending their first national camp in Florida.

Among the rookie crop are two cousins who attended college in the USA. Belgian running back LOLIKI BONGO-WANGA played at Texas Tech, while WILLY BONGO, also from Belgium, played wide receiver at West Texas A & M.

Other highly-touted youngsters competing in Florida this week are English wide receiver MARVIN ALLEN, English linebacker SHAUN SMITH, Swedish wideout CRISTIAN MALM and 6-foot-4, 350-pound German offensive tackle JULIAN PJANIC.

Also participating in the national player camp are NFLEL veterans in German guard PETER HEYER and German safety RICHARD YANCY, both of whom spent the 2004 NFL season on the practice squads of the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers respectively.

Second-year German defensive end CHRISTIAN MOHR will not take part in national camp after being signed by the Seattle Seahawks following a season spent on the NFC West club's practice squad. However, he will count as a national player when assigned to an NFLEL team for 2005.

English rugby union professional NEIL BAXTER will look to continue his pro football education in Tampa Bay as he switches sports. The former Leicester Tigers and England under-19s star will line up at running back during national camp having shone as a winger on the rugby fields of Great Britain. He first impressed NFLEL scouts during a workout in London in October and followed that tryout with a strong showing at the National Player Combine held in Cologne, Germany, in November.

Allen said: "We have a younger group in camp than in previous years but the talent level is probably higher than ever so we are looking forward to seeing how they fare on the field. I anticipate us having to make some very hard decisions about which players to assign to the six teams. The battle for roster spots is going to be extremely competitive.

"The players have been working very hard in our program during the off-season and we feel they are ready to prove their worth in Florida and during the 2005 NFL Europe League season. We are also looking forward to seeing how the players on NFL practice squads have developed in the past six months."

National players selected for the 2005 campaign will join their American team mates when passing camps begin across the Tampa Bay area on Monday February 28. Full squad practices begin on Wednesday March 2 with combined workouts and scrimmages scheduled for Tuesday March 8, Saturday March 12, Wednesday March 16 and Saturday March 19.

All combined workouts and scrimmages will take place at the 31st Street Complex in St. Petersburg, except for the final scrimmages on March 19, which will be held at the University of Tampa.

At the conclusion of training camp, the six teams – Amsterdam Admirals, Berlin Thunder, Cologne Centurions, Frankfurt Galaxy, Hamburg Sea Devils and Rhein Fire - will head to Europe to make final preparations ahead of the 2005 NFLEL season which kicks off on Saturday April 2. World Bowl XIII will be played at Düsseldorf's LTU Arena – new home of the Fire – on Saturday June 11.

Countries represented at National Player Mini-Camp

Austria, Belgium, England, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

National Football League Europa Stories from February 21, 2005

• National players from around the world kick off NFL Europe League pre-season action in Tampa Bay - NFLE

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