Thunder duo named as league MVPs

June 9, 2005 - National Football League Europa (NFLE) News Release

THE two competing teams in Yello Strom World Bowl XIII in Düsseldorf on Saturday, the Berlin Thunder and Amsterdam Admirals, have shared the individual honors for the 2005 NFL Europe League season.

Thunder quarterback DAVE RAGONE and linebacker RICH SCANLON have been named as the Offensive and Defensive MVPs respectively, while Admirals head coach BART ANDRUS has been selected as NFLEL Coach of the Year.

The award winners were announced in conjunction with the naming of the 2005 All-NFLEL team, in which the Hamburg Sea Devils led the way with nine representatives.

Ragone, allocated by the Houston Texans, follows in the footsteps of former Berlin quarterback Rohan Davey, who picked up the Offensive MVP award in 2004. Ragone won the voting among the NFLEL head coaches after a season in which he set a new NFLEL record of 176 consecutive passes without an interception and led the league with 1,746 passing yards and 13 touchdown passes, while throwing only two interceptions.

Defensive MVP Scanlon, allocated by the Kansas City Chiefs, led the league with 94 tackles and was his team's top tackler in every game as the Thunder compiled a league-best 7-3 record. He also had three sacks and defended five passes. He is the first linebacker to pick up the award since fellow-Chief Mike Maslowski won it while playing for the Barcelona Dragons in 1999 and is the first Thunder player to be named Defensive MVP since Jonathan Brown shared the prize in 2000.

Andrus was chosen as the Coach of the Year for the first time after leading the Admirals to their first World Bowl berth since 1995. In his fifth season as Amsterdam head coach, Andrus had to overcome the loss of starting quarterback Gibran Hamdan and 2004 All-NFLEL tight end Tony Donald early in the season, but still led his team to a 6-4 finish and the top offensive ranking in the league. Andrus succeeds Berlin's Rick Lantz, the man he opposes in the Yello Strom World Bowl in the LTU arena on Saturday.

Ragone and Scanlon were both named on the All-NFL Europe League team, which is voted for by the NFLEL coaching staffs, members of a media panel and fans voting online at NFLEurope.com.

They were among seven Thunder players selected, including three members of the offensive line: tackle TONY PAPE, guard DANTE ELLINGTON and center BEN CLAXTON, who was also selected in 2004. On defense, CHRISTIAN MOHR was named as the national player.

Yello Strom World Bowl rivals Amsterdam had five players selected for the All-NFLEL team, including JARRETT PAYTON, who won one of the closest votes on the team to win selection at running back. Payton, who led the league with seven rushing touchdowns and gained 578 yards at the impressive average of 5.6 yards per carry, just edged out the Rhein Fire's Joe Smith, who finished the season with 1,026 rushing yards, and Admirals teammate Jonathan Smith, who gained 711 yards on the ground.

Wide receiver RUVELL MARTIN, who tied the single-season NFLEL record with 12 touchdown receptions, was among the other Admirals chosen, along with cornerback B.J. TUCKER, who tied for the league lead with five interceptions.

It was the Hamburg Sea Devils who led the way in the voting, however, with nine players being selected to the team at the end of their first season in the league. They included three members of the Sea Devils defensive line – end ANTONIO SMITH and tackles TIM McGILL and AARON HUNT.

Hamburg was also represented by kicker TODD FRANCE, who set a league single-season record by scoring 91 points, and national wide receiver SCOTT McCREADY, who was leading the league with 37 receptions before a mid-season injury. McCready earned his third All-NFLEL selection, having been chosen in 2002 and 2004.

The Rhein Fire had three players selected, including wide receiver CEDRIC JAMES, who gained 515 receiving yards and scored five touchdowns, and cornerback BLUE ADAMS, who posted three interceptions.

The Cologne Centurions sent two players to the team – linebacker BOBBY BROOKS, who earned selection for the second straight year, and defensive end GREG WHITE, who led the league with seven sacks.

Cornerback LAMONT BRIGHTFUL, who was named as the special teams expert after leading the NFLEL with a 27.4-yard kickoff return average, was the only Frankfurt Galaxy player to win selection.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Bart Andrus (Amsterdam Admirals)

OFFENSIVE MVP (Selected by the NFL Europe head coaches)

Dave Ragone (QB, Berlin Thunder)

DEFENSIVE MVP (Selected by the NFL Europe head coaches)

Rich Scanlon (LB, Berlin Thunder)

ALL-NFL EUROPE LEAGUE TEAM

(Selected by the NFLEL coaching staffs, media

and by fans voting online at NFLeurope.com)

OFFENSE DEFENSE

QB Dave Ragone (Berlin) DE Antonio Smith (Hamburg)

RB Jarrett Payton (Amsterdam) DT Tim McGill (Hamburg)

WR Ruvell Martin (Amsterdam) DT Aaron Hunt (Hamburg)

WR Cedric James (Rhein) DE Greg White (Cologne)

WR Aaron Boone (Berlin) LB Rich Scanlon (Berlin)

TE Bobby Blizzard (Hamburg) LB Nick McNeil (Hamburg)

T Tony Pape (Berlin) LB Bobby Brooks (Cologne) **

G Dante Ellington (Berlin) CB B.J. Tucker (Amsterdam)

C Ben Claxton (Berlin) S Scott Connot (Amsterdam)

G Chad Setterstrom (Amsterdam) S Shawn Mayer (Hamburg)

T Tyson Clabo (Hamburg) CB Blue Adams (Rhein)

Nat. Scott McCready (Hamburg) * Nat. Christian Mohr (Berlin)

K Todd France (Hamburg) P Travis Dorsch (Rhein)

ST Lamont Brightful (Frankfurt)

(Nat – National player; ST – Special Teams player)

* Selected in 2002, 2004

** Selected in 2004

National Football League Europa Stories from June 9, 2005

• Flag Football European School Final to take place ahead of Yello Strom WB XIII - NFLE
• Thunder duo named as league MVPs - NFLE

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.