Jun 16, 2003 - On Saturday afternoon, just hours before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were scheduled to receive their championship rings, Buck Gurley and Idris Price got one for the other hand.
When the Buccaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII in January, both were in San Diego for the celebration, Gurley on the active roster but inactive for the game and Price on the practice squad. Less than five months later, Gurley and Price were champions again.
The NFL Europe League's 2003 season came to an exciting end on Saturday afternoon as the Frankfurt Galaxy defeated the Rhein Fire, 35-16, in World Bowl XI. Both Gurley and Price started for the victorious team, the former at right defensive tackle and the latter at left outside linebacker.
In fact, half of the players Tampa Bay allocated to the NFLEL this season ended up in the championship game, as defensive tackle Josh McKibben and wide receiver Todd Elstrom played important roles for the Fire. Only the Seattle Seahawks, with five Galaxy players and two Rhein players, had more allocated men in World Bowl XI than the Buccaneers. The Denver Broncos also had four.
Buccaneer T Kyle Kipps of the Berlin Thunder, S Than Merrill of the Amsterdam Admirals and S James Rooths and C Jason Scukanec of the Scottish Claymores had been eliminated the previous weekend when the league's 10-game regular season came to an end.
Though three of the Bucs' four World Bowl combatants were on the defensive side of the ball, this game was carried by the Galaxy and Fire offense's, particularly Frankfurt's running attack. During the regular season, Frankfurt had averaged 135.1 rushing yards per game while Rhein had racked up 138.5 per game. In World Bowl XI, RB Jonas Lewis led a 246-yard rushing attack for the Galaxy that exactly doubled the 123 yards posted by the Fire.
The Buccaneers did have a significant impact on the game, however. Price tied for the game lead with seven solo tackles and added a stop on special teams. Gurley turned in two tackles and also knocked down a pair of passes. McKibben helped the Fire with one tackle and one stop on special teams. Elstrom, who started the season with the Claymores but was sent to Rhein at midseason due to injuries, had his biggest day of the spring. After recording just three receptions for 50 yards during the regular season, Elstrom hauled in three passes for 45 yards in the World Bowl.
Thanks to 305 yards of passing split almost evenly between quarterbacks Chris Greisen and Nick Rolovich, Rhein actually finished with an edge in overall yardage, 418 to 371. However, Frankfurt walked away with a fairly dominant victory by holding firm in the red zone and forcing repeated field goal attempts.
Gurley, in fact, denied the Fire a chance to get back into the game just before halftime with a string of big plays on a drive that netted Rhein only a field goal and a 25-9 deficit at the intermission. On the drive, Gurley batted down Greisen's second pass at the line of scrimmage, stopped RB Autry Denson, a former Buc, for no gain on a first-down carry, caught Denson again on a second-down draw play and chased Greisen into a desperate incompletion on third down from the Galaxy's nine. K Ingo Anderbrugge settled for a 27-yard field goal.
Lewis, who ran for 126 yards and a touchdown, was named the World Bowl MVP on a day in which Frankfurt was content to run the ball 30 times and throw it just 19. "The offensive line made the difference today," said Frankfurt Head Coach Doug Graber, a former coach and broadcaster for the Buccaneers. "They allowed us to run the ball and that was the key to our victory."
All four of the Bucs in World Bowl XI will now rejoin their NFL teammates in Tampa, in plenty of time to catch the beginning of training camp in Orlando on July 18. Like Corey Ivy, Chartric Darby, Aaron Stecker and Ron Warner before them, Gurley and his fellow European travelers will attempt to parlay three months of live game action into an edge when camp opens.
Here's a look at the final season accomplishments of the eight players Tampa Bay allocated to the NFL Europe League in 2003:
WR Todd Elstrom, Rhein Fire: Saw action in six games for Rhein after moving over from Scotland, catching three passes for 50 yards. Added three receptions for 45 yards in World Bowl XI.
DT Buck Gurley, Frankfurt Galaxy: Played in all 11 games and started nine for the league champions. Recorded three sacks, 17 tackles and one forced fumble.
T Kyle Kipps, Berlin Thunder: Made conversion from defensive line to offensive tackle but saw action in just one game, the season finale.
DT Josh McKibben, Rhein Fire: Started all 11 games, recording 2.5 sacks, 24 tackles, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and two special teams tackles. Also handled team's long-snapping duties for much of the season.
S Than Merrill, Amsterdam Admirals: Started the first four games of the season before season-ending knee injury. Recorded 21 tackles and one pass defensed.
LB Idris Price, Frankfurt Galaxy: Saw action in nine games, starting eight. Recorded two sacks, 44 tackles and seven special teams tackles. Added seven tackles in the Galaxy's World Bowl victory.
CB James Rooths, Scottish Claymores: Saw action in all 10 games, starting six. Recorded one sack, 27 tackles, one pass defensed and eight special teams tackles. Also returned kickoffs.
C Jason Scukanec, Scottish Claymores: Started all 10 games for an offense that amassed a league-leading 4,169 yards.