One step closerâ¦NFLEL players take chance to impress coaches, NFL scouts
Published on March 12, 2005 under National Football League Europa (NFLE) News Release
NFL Europe League players took the opportunity to impress their coaching staffs and a host of NFL team personnel during an intense day of action in training camp in Tampa Bay, Florida.
With NFLEL teams moving ever closer to the deadline for deciding which 48 players to take to Europe for the upcoming season and NFL scouts in town to keep an eye on their allocated players, there was no let-up in the play throughout the three game-condition scrimmages at the 31st Street Complex in St Petersburg.
Amsterdam Admirals vs Hamburg Sea Devils
Hamburg quarterback Casey Bramlet (Cincinnati Bengals) completed 3 of 5 passes for 59 yards, while running back Larry Croom (Arizona Cardinals) gained 32 yards on 6 carries, including a 2-yard touchdown, and Chris Douglas ran 6 times for 21 yards. Carlos Perez (Philadelphia Eagles) had 2 catches for 49 yards, with Scott McCready, the NFLEL leader in receptions in 2004, grabbing 2 balls for 23 yards.
Amsterdam quarterback Chris Finlen (New Orleans Saints) put up big numbers, completing 5 of 8 passes for 119 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown to Chris Bernard (Indianapolis Colts). Bernard finished with 3 receptions for 56 yards. Gibran Hamdan (Seattle Seahawks) hit on all 6 of his passes for 35 yards, with Kurt Kittner (Chicago Bears) completing 5 of 6 passes for 60 yards and a touchdown. French running back Sandino Octobre rushed 4 times for 25 yards, while Ruvell Martin (San Diego Chargers) had 3 catches for 31 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown. Ataveus Cash (New York Giants), John Booth (Kansas City Chiefs) and tight end Mike Gomez (Buffalo Bills) each caught a pair of passes.
On defense, Dutch cornerback Amilcar Grot caught the eye with a pair of important pass deflections.
From the quotebook
"It is a matter of the team now going back and getting together. We have definitely got work to do, but I believe in everybody on this team. Today was a stepping stone and we have to learn from everything that happened here. We didn't have the energy I think we had in practice. There are things on offense and defense that we can get better at." â Hamburg safety Eric Crouch.
"I was pleased that we were able to to move the ball on offense, but we are still not totally where we need to be yet. We are still in the learning phase and one of the things you want to see every time you have these scrimmages is an improvement from the one before. I think we definitely saw that." â Amsterdam head coach Bart Andrus.
Frankfurt Galaxy vs Rhein Fire
Running back Joe Smith (Tennessee Titans) was the dominant force for the Fire, gaining 85 yards on 14 carries, including a pair of short-yardage touchdowns, and adding an 11-yard reception. Dahrran Diedrick (Washington Redskins) rushed for 30 yards on 5 attempts. Among the Fire quarterbacks, Andy Hall (Philadelphia Eagles) hit on 5 of 6 passes for 63 yards and 2 touchdowns. Joe Hall (Kansas City Chiefs) and Jason Rader each caught a 4-yard touchdown pass, while Nathan Black (Washington Redskins), Glenn Martinez (Detroit Lions) and tight end Kyle Acker had 2 receptions apiece.
Galaxy running back Ahmaad Galloway (San Diego Chargers) rushed for 56 yards on 12 attempts, with quarterback Akili Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) completing 2 of 5 passes for 46 yards, including a touchdown and Jason Gesser connecting on 4 of 5 passes for 39 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Receiver Sam Simmons (Pittsburgh Steelers) caught 2 passes for 23 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown. National running back Martin Latka had a 21-yard reception.
From the quotebook
"I had a good afternoon, but you are never satisfied, and I want to come back out next time and improve. I think as a team we need to cut down on penalties, and improve our protection of the quarterback. We have got a long way to go and we can get better, but today was a step along for this team." â Rhein Fire running back Joe Smith.
"Rhein came out and really establised their run game and mixed the pass in well, and in the end they were just more physical than we were. We are going to go back and have a look at the tape, and then work on some of the things we didn't do so well today. If we can capitalise on those things and work hard then we will be better when we come out on Wednesday." â Frankfurt head coach Mike Jones.
Berlin Thunder vs Cologne Centurions
In a scrimmage in which defenses had the upper hand, Berlin passer Brett Engemann (Oakland Raiders) completed 4 of 5 passes for 27 yards a touchdown. Running back Little John Flowers (New York Jets) rushed 10 times for 54 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown, and Cal Murray (San Diego Chargers) gained 20 yards on 5 carries. Fullback Brian Johnson (San Francisco 49ers) caught 2 passes, including a 2-yard touchdown.
Cologne quarterback Casey Clausen (Kansas City Chiefs) completed 4 of 5 passes for 42 yards, with Japanese passer Kentaro Namiki hitting on 2 of 3 passes for 37 yards. Keylon Kincade (Dallas Cowboys) rushed for 26 yards on 5 attempts, while Carl Morris (San Diego Chargers) and James Newson (Miami Dolphins) each had 2 receptions.
From the quotebook
"We were a little sluggish offensively, I think we were a bit out of synch, but defensively we played really well. We ran the ball pretty well too, which is a good sign. This was the first real game-situation scrimmage, so considering we have only been together 10 days we did pretty well." â Berlin quarterback Dave Ragone.
"This was a good practice for us. Obviously we need to get better at a lot of things on both offense and defense. We made some mistakes, and I think we had too many penalties on the whole, but this is often how you start out at training camp. The important thing is to work on our game and and make sure we come out better next time we step on the field." â Centurions tight end Werner Hippler.
National Football League Europa Stories from March 12, 2005
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