2004 Cologne Centurions season

The 2004 Cologne Centurions season was the inaugural season for the franchise in the NFL Europe League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Peter Vaas and played its home games at RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne, Germany. They finished the regular season in fourth place with a record of four wins and six losses.

2004 Cologne Centurions season
Head coach	Peter Vaas
General manager	Jacques Orthen
Home field	RheinEnergieStadion
Results
Record	4–6
Division place	4th
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The Centurions replaced the Barcelona Dragons for this season, keeping only two members from Barcelona's 2003 roster: linebacker Cedric Cotar and receiver Marco Martos.

Offseason

Free agent draft

2004 Cologne Centurions NFLEL free agent draft selections

Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice
1	3	Demetric Evans	DE	Georgia
2	9	Will Hunter	CB	Syracuse
3	16	Richard Newsome	S	Michigan State
4	21	Byron Hardmon	LB	Florida
5	28	Robert Doane	T	Texas
6	33	Marcus Smith	DB	Memphis
7	40	Erik Totten	S	Western Washington
8	45	Rodnick Phillips	RB	Southern Methodist
9	52	Andre Arnold	DE	Grambling
10	57	Lance Gibson	DE	Central Washington
11	64	Curt McGill	C	Georgia
12	69	Chris Smith	T	UC Davis
13	76	Antwon McCray	RB	Toledo

[1]

Personnel

Staff

2004 Cologne Centurions staff

	Front office General Manager – Jacques Orthen Head coaches Head Coach/Quarterbacks – Peter Vaas Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line – Bob Bicknell National Coach/Running Backs – Wanja Müller Wide Receivers – Dwaune Jones Tight Ends – Tom Nütten			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – David Duggan Defensive Line – Mel Mills Defensive Backs – Richard Kent Defensive Assistant – Robert Harris Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Joe Shufelt

Roster

2004 Cologne Centurions roster

	Quarterbacks  7 Rob Adamson 12 Ryan Van Dyke Running backs 23 Jeremy Allen 36 Chad Brinker  8 Avon Cobourne 28 Antwon McCray Wide receivers 83 Todd Devoe 82 Sean Dillard 87 Albert Johnson 19 Carl Morris 80 Ben Nelson 81 Reggie Newhouse Tight ends 89 Mark Inkrott		Offensive linemen 53 Luke Butkus C 65 Mike Mabry C 63 David Miller G 72 Lance Nimmo T 69 Tony Pashos T 68 Elliot Silvers G/T 69 Zach Wilson G Defensive linemen 95 Andre Arnold DE 96 Ryan Atoe DT 91 Felipe Claybrooks DE 92 Demetric Evans DE/DT 77 Cullen Jenkins DT 93 Eric Powell DE 99 Ronald Smith DT		Linebackers 55 Bobby Brooks MLB 40 Byron Hardmon MLB 44 LaMarcus McDonald OLB 52 Marcus Reese OLB Defensive backs 30 Jerton Evans S 33 Marcus Floyd CB 25 Cedric Henry CB 27 Will Hunter CB 24 Don McGee CB 21 Richard Newsome S 22 Steve Smith S 26 Erwin Swiney CB 29 Erik Totten S Special teams  9 Steve Cheek P 10 Derek Schorejs K		National players 56 Cedric Cotar LB 86 Werner Hippler TE 14 Ola Kimrin K  1 Marco Martos WR 11 Yu Nakajima WR  5 Kentaro Namiki QB 16 Michihiro Ogawa WR 20 Tadanari Sano CB 45 Masaki Tokimoto LB Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff [n 1]	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
				Final score	Team record
1	Sunday, April 4	4:00 p.m.	at Rhein Fire	L 25–26	0–1	Arena AufSchalke	22,736
2	Saturday, April 10	7:00 p.m.	Frankfurt Galaxy	L 10–20	0–2	RheinEnergieStadion	9,134
3	Sunday, April 18	4:00 p.m.	at Berlin Thunder	L 31–35	0–3	Olympic Stadium	12,036
4	Saturday, April 24	7:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	W 17–3	1–3	RheinEnergieStadion	8,761
5	Saturday, May 1	7:00 p.m.	at Frankfurt Galaxy	L 17–24	1–4	Waldstadion	24,117
6	Saturday, May 8	7:00 p.m.	Berlin Thunder	W 28–27	2–4	RheinEnergieStadion	10,164
7	Saturday, May 15	7:00 p.m.	at Amsterdam Admirals	L 10–17	2–5	Amsterdam ArenA	14,437
8	Sunday, May 23	4:00 p.m.	Rhein Fire	W 7–6	3–5	RheinEnergieStadion	20,354
9	Sunday, May 30	4:00 p.m.	Amsterdam Admirals	L 18–23	3–6	RheinEnergieStadion	9,056
10	Saturday, June 5	2:00 p.m.	at Scottish Claymores	W 28–20	4–6	Hampden Park	10,013

[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Standings

NFL Europe League
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Berlin Thunder	9	1	0	.900	289	195	5–0	4–1	W4
Frankfurt Galaxy	7	3	0	.700	212	192	4–1	3–2	L1
Amsterdam Admirals	5	5	0	.500	173	191	3–2	2–3	W2
Cologne Centurions	4	6	0	.400	191	201	3–2	1–4	W1
Rhein Fire	3	7	0	.300	161	178	3–2	0–5	L4
Scottish Claymores	2	8	0	.200	128	197	1–4	1–4	L2

[12]

Game summaries

Week 1: at Rhein Fire

Week One: Cologne Centurions at Rhein Fire – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	10	6	3	6	25
Rhein	14	3	7	2	26

at Arena AufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

• Date: Sunday, April 4
• Game time: 4:08 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 22,736
• Referee: Carl Cheffers

Week 2: vs Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Two: Frankfurt Galaxy at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	7	0	0	13	20
Cologne	3	0	0	7	10

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

• Date: Saturday, April 10
• Game time: 7:04 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 9,134
• Referee: Gerald Austin

Week 3: at Berlin Thunder

Week Three: Cologne Centurions at Berlin Thunder – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	7	14	3	7	31
Berlin	21	7	7	0	35

at Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany

• Date: Sunday, April 18
• Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 12,036
• Referee: Bill Vinovich

Week 4: vs Scottish Claymores

Week Four: Scottish Claymores at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Scotland	3	0	0	0	3
Cologne	7	10	0	0	17

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

• Date: Saturday, April 24
• Game time: 7:06 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 8,761
• Referee: Walt Anderson

Week 5: at Frankfurt Galaxy

Week Five: Cologne Centurions at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	3	0	7	7	17
Frankfurt	3	14	0	7	24

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 1
• Game time: 7:08 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 24,117
• Referee: Ed Hochuli

Week 6: vs Berlin Thunder

Week Six: Berlin Thunder at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Berlin	7	7	0	13	27
Cologne	14	0	7	7	28

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 8
• Game time: 7:04 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 10,164
• Referee: John Parry

Week 7: at Amsterdam Admirals

Week Seven: Cologne Centurions at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	0	3	7	0	10
Amsterdam	7	7	3	0	17

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Date: Saturday, May 15
• Game time: 7:08 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 14,437
• Referee: Gerald Austin

Week 8: vs Rhein Fire

Week Eight: Rhein Fire at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	6	0	0	6
Cologne	0	0	7	0	7

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

• Date: Sunday, May 23
• Game time: 4:07 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 20,354
• Referee: Gene Steratore

Week 9: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Week Nine: Amsterdam Admirals at Cologne Centurions – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Amsterdam	7	7	3	6	23
Cologne	4	0	7	7	18

at RheinEnergieStadion, Cologne, Germany

• Date: Sunday, May 30
• Game time: 4:06 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 9,056
• Referee: Bill Vinovich

Week 10: at Scottish Claymores

Week Ten: Cologne Centurions at Scottish Claymores – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cologne	0	14	0	14	28
Scotland	0	7	13	0	20

at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland

• Date: Saturday, June 5
• Game time: 2:05 p.m. BST
• Game attendance: 10,013
• Referee: Walt Coleman

Notes

1. All times local to where the game was played.

References

1. NFL Europe League (February 8, 2004). "Thornton first selection in Free Agent Draft" (Press release). Retrieved February 8, 2013.
2. NFL Europe League (March 29, 2004). "Champs kick off 12th season" (Press release). Retrieved March 29, 2013.
3. NFL Europe League (April 7, 2004). "NFLEL season rolls on as Week 1 winners face teams looking for first victory of new campaign" (Press release). Retrieved April 7, 2013.
4. NFL Europe League (April 13, 2004). "Unbeaten rivals clash in Week 3" (Press release). Retrieved April 13, 2013.
5. NFL Europe League (April 20, 2004). "Thunder and Galaxy look to break free from pack" (Press release). Retrieved April 20, 2013.
6. NFL Europe League (April 27, 2004). "Undefeated Thunder on top as season approaches halfway point" (Press release). Retrieved April 27, 2013.
7. NFL Europe League (May 4, 2004). "Galaxy, Thunder clear of chasing pack as season's second half kicks off" (Press release). Retrieved May 4, 2013.
8. NFL Europe League (May 11, 2004). "Thunder one victory away from World Bowl berth" (Press release). Retrieved May 11, 2013.
9. NFL Europe League (May 18, 2004). "Thunder clinches World Bowl berth" (Press release). Retrieved May 18, 2013.
10. NFL Europe League (May 25, 2004). "Galaxy reaches World Bowl for sixth time" (Press release). Retrieved May 25, 2013.
11. NFL Europe League (June 1, 2004). "World Bowl foes meet in regular season finale" (Press release). Retrieved June 1, 2013.
12. "2004 NFLE Standings". The Football Database. Retrieved February 8, 2013.