# 2003 Rhein Fire season

The 2003 Rhein Fire season was the ninth season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Pete Kuharchek in his third year, and played its home games at Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. They finished the regular season in second place with a record of six wins and four losses. In World Bowl XI, Rhein lost to the Frankfurt Galaxy 35–16.

## Offseason
### Free agent draft

2003 Rhein Fire NFLEL free agent draft selections :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College |
| Round | Choice | Player name | Position | College |
| 1 | 5 | Derrick Ham | DE | Miami |
| 2 | 11 | Dwayne Ledford | G | East Carolina |
| 3 | 14 | Gillis Wilson | DE | Southern |
| 4 | 23 | Shad Criss | CB | Missouri |
| 5 | 26 | Lew Thomas | RB | Vanderbilt |
| 6 | 35 | Andre Arnold | LB | Grambling State |
| 7 | 38 | Todd DeLamielleure | LB | Hofstra |
| 8 | 47 | Jonathan Burrough | TE | New Mexico |
| 9 | 50 | Kwazi Leverette | WR | Syracuse |
| 10 | 59 | Greg Brown | S | Texas |
| 11 | 62 | Corey Callens | DE | Oklahoma |
| 12 | 71 | Jamel Smith | LB | Virginia Tech |
| 13 | 74 | Jeff McCurley | C | Pittsburgh |
| 14 | 83 | Ataveus Cash | WR | Hampton |
| 15 | 86 | Lawrence Story | WR | Jackson State |
| 16 | 95 | Frank Moreau | RB | Louisville |
| 17 | 98 | Kendall Newson | WR | Middle Tennessee |
| 18 | 107 | Shane O’Neill | S | Southern Methodist |
| 19 | 110 | Mike Watkins | QB | Louisville |
| 20 | 118 | Bob Dzvonick | DT | Buffalo |

## Schedule

| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Results | Results | Game site | Attendance |
| Week | Date | Kickoff | Opponent | Final score | Team record | Game site | Attendance |
| 1 | Saturday, April 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Amsterdam Admirals | L 15–17 | 0–1 | Arena AufSchalke | 28,206 |
| 2 | Sunday, April 13 | 4:00 p.m. | at Berlin Thunder | W 21–10 | 1–1 | Olympic Stadium | 16,312 |
| 3 | Saturday, April 19 | 7:00 p.m. | Scottish Claymores | W 34–17 | 2–1 | Arena AufSchalke | 43,985 |
| 4 | Saturday, April 26 | 5:00 p.m. | at Barcelona Dragons | L 3–11 | 2–2 | Mini Estadi | 6,182 |
| 5 | Saturday, May 3 | 7:00 p.m. | Frankfurt Galaxy | W 14–7 | 3–2 | Arena AufSchalke | 42,324 |
| 6 | Saturday, May 10 | 7:00 p.m. | at Amsterdam Admirals | W 34–27 | 4–2 | Amsterdam ArenA | 11,672 |
| 7 | Sunday, May 18 | 3:00 p.m. | at Scottish Claymores | L 0–33 | 4–3 | Hampden Park | 8,279 |
| 8 | Sunday, May 25 | 4:00 p.m. | Berlin Thunder | W 28–21 | 5–3 | Arena AufSchalke | 27,895 |
| 9 | Sunday, June 1 | 4:00 p.m. | at Frankfurt Galaxy | L 7–38 | 5–4 | Waldstadion | 25,539 |
| 10 | Saturday, June 7 | 7:00 p.m. | Barcelona Dragons | W 33–7 | 6–4 | Arena AufSchalke | 28,678 |

## Standings

NFL Europe League :
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | Home | Road | STK |
| Frankfurt Galaxy | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 252 | 182 | 4–1 | 2–3 | L1 |
| Rhein Fire | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 189 | 188 | 4–1 | 2–3 | W1 |
| Scottish Claymores | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 303 | 190 | 3–2 | 3–2 | W4 |
| FC Barcelona Dragons | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 | 150 | 221 | 2–3 | 3–2 | L3 |
| Amsterdam Admirals | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 230 | 273 | 2–3 | 2–3 | L1 |
| Berlin Thunder | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 | 248 | 318 | 2–3 | 1–4 | W1 |

## Game summaries
### World Bowl XI

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rhein | 3 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 16 |
| Frankfurt | 11 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 35 |
at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland
* Date: Saturday, June 14
* Game time: 5:06 p.m. BST
* Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C), sunny with clear skies
* Game attendance: 28,138
* Referee: Pete Morelli
* TV announcers (FOX): Curt Menefee and Brian Baldinger