LB Idris Price and the Frankfurt Galaxy are in World Bowl XI after a dominating defensive effort against the Rhein Fire
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Two In, Others Wait
Jun 02, 2003 - Buck Gurley and Idris Price know their tour of Europe is going to last one extra week this summer. What they don't know is which of their Tampa Bay Buccaneer teammates, if any, will be staying with them.
Gurley and Price, two of the eight Buccaneers allocated to the NFL Europe League, helped the Frankfurt Galaxy (6-3) douse the Rhein Fire, 38-7, on Sunday and thus earn the first of two berths in World Bowl XI. Their championship-game competitor – the Fire, the Barcelona Dragons or the Scottish Claymores – will be determined this Saturday and Sunday in the final weekend of regular season play.
World Bowl XI is scheduled for Saturday, June 14 in Glasgow, Scotland. It will be televised live on FOX beginning at noon.
The Bucs could have as many as four players in the title game if either Rhein or Scotland qualifies to play the Galaxy. DT Josh McKibben and WR Todd Elstrom lost along with the Rhein Fire on Sunday but fell to just 5-4 and into a three-way tie with the Dragons and Claymores, who played each other on Saturday. There are no Buc-allocated players in Barcelona, which was fortunate this weekend as Scottish G Jason Scukanec and CB James Rooths helped the Claymores stay in the race with a 45-7 thrashing of the Dragons.
The Amsterdam Admirals and Berlin Thunder also met on Saturday, with the Admirals prevailing in a 51-43 shootout, the highest-scoring game in NFL Europe history. However, not only had both of those clubs been eliminated from World Bowl contention before the weekend, but neither team's Buc-allocated player saw action. Amsterdam S Than Merrill has missed the last five games due to a knee sprain and Berlin T Kyle Kipps has not seen any action this season as he has made the conversion from defensive tackle to the offensive line.
Strangely, none of the three 5-4 teams completely controls its own destiny this weekend, even with two of those three playing each other on Saturday. On Saturday, Barcelona will face off against Rhein, a team it beat 11-3 in Week Four. On Sunday, the Claymores will play host to the 4-5 Admirals for the second time in three weeks; Scotland won a Week Eight meeting, 31-20.
Here's how each team stands in the race:
AMSTERDAM ADMIRALS (4-5): Eliminated from World Bowl contention and still seeking first championship game appearance since 1995. Need to win final game to avoid matching longest streak of losing seasons in NFLEL history (5 - London/England Monarchs, 1992, 1995-98)
F.C. BARCELONA DRAGONS (5-4): Need to beat Rhein in Week 10 and then need Scotland to lose to Amsterdam.
BERLIN THUNDER (2-7): Eliminated from World Bowl contention, thus ending bid to become first team to qualify for three straight championship games. Need to win one more game to avoid posting worst record of a defending World Bowl champion (London, 2-7-1 in 1992).
FRANKFURT GALAXY (6-3): Qualified for World Bowl for record fifth time.
RHEIN FIRE (5-4): Need to beat Barcelona in Week 10 and then need Scotland to lose to Amsterdam OR Frankfurt to lose to Berlin.
SCOTTISH CLAYMORES (5-4): Need to beat Amsterdam and then need Frankfurt to win at Berlin OR Barcelona to win at Rhein.
The Claymores, who were 2-4 after six weeks, have climbed squarely back in the race with three straight victories, riding the league's best rushing attack. Scukanec has started all nine games for Scotland and helped the offense average 147.1 rushing yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry. The Scottish attack features two of the league's top five rushers in Buffalo-allocated Ken Simonton and Chicago-allocated Maurice Hicks.
On Sunday, Scukanec and crew piled up 162 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries, averaging 5.6 yards per tote against Barcelona. The Claymores put together deliberate first-half drives of 74, 81 and 95 yards and had a 35-0 lead at halftime. Scotland finished the day with a 466-191 edge in total yardage and did not allow a quarterback sack. Rooths subbed at cornerback for the victorious Claymores and had one tackle and one pass defensed, plus a stop on special teams.
Gurley and Price were also on the right end of a blowout, this one built on defense as much as anything. Frankfurt, which had given up a league-worst 366.5 yards per game coming into the weekend, held Rhein to just 206 yards and forced three turnovers. Like the Claymores in Barcelona, the Galaxy held a 35-0 lead at one point, with Rhein scoring in the game's last two minutes to avoid the shutout.
Gurley started at nose tackle for the Galaxy and contributed one tackle. Price started at outside linebacker and pitched in with four tackles and another stop on special teams. McKibben had one tackle as a starter in the Fire's losing effort. Elstrom subbed at receiver for Rhein but did not make a catch.
The Buccaneer-allocated men will return to Tampa after the conclusion of their NFLEL seasons, which will come a week earlier for several of the players. Though they will have missed the balance of Tampa Bay's offseason program, they will report with the rest of the team to training camp on July 18 (date subject to change). All of the NFLEL players will attend camp under roster exemptions, which allow the Buccaneers to exceed the 80-man camp limit.
Here's a rundown of what the Bucs' allocated players did over the weekend in the NFLEL:
WR Todd Elstrom, Rhein Fire: Subbed at wide receiver.
DT Buck Gurley, Frankfurt Galaxy: Started at NT and had one tackle.
T Kyle Kipps, Berlin Thunder: Did not play.
DT Josh McKibben, Rhein Fire: Started at DT and recorded one tackle.
S Than Merrill, Amsterdam Admirals: Did not play due to injury.
LB Idris Price, Frankfurt Galaxy: Started at OLB and had four tackles and one stop on special teams.
CB James Rooths, Scottish Claymores: Subbed versus Barcelona and had one tackle, one pass defensed and one special teams stop.
C Jason Scukanec, Scottish Claymores: Started at center and helped Scotland post 466 yards of offense against Amsterdam.