The 2007 Hamburg Sea Devils season was the third and final season for the franchise in the NFL Europa League (NFLEL). The team was led by head coach Vince Martino in his first year, and played its home games at AOL Arena in Hamburg, Germany. They finished the regular season in first place with a record of seven wins and three losses. Hamburg won the first championship in team history by defeating the Frankfurt Galaxy 37–28. The National Football League (NFL) announced the closure of its European branch on June 29.
Offseason
Free agent draft + 2007 Hamburg Sea Devils NFLEL free agent draft selections Draft order Player name Position College Round Choice 1 2 Quentin Griffin RB Oklahoma 2 8 Michael Harden CB Missouri 3 17 Cliff Washburn T Citadel 4 20 Gary Gibson DT Rutgers 5 29 Rashaun Woods WR Oklahoma State 6 32 Marcus Lawrence LB South Carolina 7 41 Bryan Watje TE San Jose State 8 44 Vernell Brown CB Florida 9 53 Mike Pinkard TE Arizona State 10 56 Javon Nanton DE Miami 11 65 Byron Hardmon LB Florida 12 68 Shawn Mayer S Penn State 13 77 Nick Hagemann T South Dakota 14 80 Michael Ford CB Duquesne 15 89 Tony Hollings RB Georgia Tech 16 92 Thomas Smith DT Pittsburgh 17 101 Justin Jenkins WR Mississippi State 18 104 Adam O’Connor G William & Mary 19 113 Robert Durham CB Tuskegee 20 116 Jason Peterson DE North Dakota 21 125 Ryan Hamby TE Ohio State 22 128 Charles Hall CB Southeastern Louisiana 23 132 Ezra Landry WR Southern 24 134 Kenny Kern LB Delaware State
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Schedule Week Date Kickoff Opponent Results Game site Attendance Final score Team record 1 Saturday, April 14 6:00 p.m. Cologne Centurions L 18–24 0–1 AOL Arena 20,887 2 Sunday, April 22 4:00 p.m. at Berlin Thunder W 16–7 1–1 Olympic Stadium 30,657 3 Saturday, April 28 7:00 p.m. at Frankfurt Galaxy L 17–20 1–2 Commerzbank-Arena 29,091 4 Sunday, May 6 4:00 p.m. Rhein Fire W 34–9 2–2 AOL Arena 19,347 5 Saturday, May 12 6:00 p.m. Amsterdam Admirals W 24–17 3–2 AOL Arena 15,271 6 Friday, May 18 8:00 p.m. at Amsterdam Admirals L 31–41 3–3 Amsterdam ArenA 9,384 7 Saturday, May 26 6:00 p.m. Berlin Thunder W 17–7 4–3 AOL Arena 18,337 8 Saturday, June 2 6:00 p.m. at Cologne Centurions W 21–7 5–3 RheinEnergieStadion 10,221 9 Saturday, June 9 6:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy W 36–31 6–3 AOL Arena 30,528 10 Saturday, June 16 7:00 p.m. at Rhein Fire W 17–13 7–3 LTU arena 22,980 World Bowl XV 11 Saturday, June 23 7:00 p.m. Frankfurt Galaxy W 37–28 8–3 Commerzbank-Arena 48,125
Standings
Game summaries
Week 1: vs Cologne Centurions
Week 2: at Berlin Thunder
Week 3: at Frankfurt Galaxy
Week 4: vs Rhein Fire
Week 5: vs Amsterdam Admirals
Week 6: at Amsterdam Admirals
Week 7: vs Berlin Thunder
Week 8: at Cologne Centurions
Week 9: vs Frankfurt Galaxy
Week 10: at Rhein Fire
World Bowl XV
Honors Throughout the course of the 10-week regular season, eight players earned player of the week accolades: Adam Anderson (special teams, Week 7), Casey Bramlet (offense, Week 4), Gary Gibson (defense, Week 4), Byron Hardmon (defense, Week 5), Ben Ishola (national, Weeks 2 and 8), Justin Jenkins (offense, Week 3), Scott McCready (national, Weeks 1, 4 and 10), and Rich Parson (special teams, Week 3).
After the completion of the regular season, the All-NFL Europa League team was selected by the NFLEL coaching staffs, members of a media panel and fans voting online at NFLEurope.com. Overall, Hamburg had eight players selected. The selections were:
Gary Gibson, defensive tackle Ben Ishola, national defensive player Justin Kurpeikis, defensive end Shawn Mayer, safety Marcus Maxwell, wide receiver Scott McCready, national offensive player Pete McMahon, guard Jeremy Parquet, tackle
Head coach Vince Martino was named NFLEL Coach of the Year after leading his team to a first title game appearance in team history. Additionally, quarterback Casey Bramlet earned World Bowl MVP honors.
Notes
References