1997 Frankfurt Galaxy season

The 1997 Frankfurt Galaxy season was the fifth season for the franchise in the World League of American Football (WLAF). The team was led by head coach Ernie Stautner in his third year, and played its home games at Waldstadion in Frankfurt, Germany. They finished the regular season in fifth place with a record of four wins and six losses.

1997 Frankfurt Galaxy season
General manager	Chris Heyne
Head coach	Ernie Stautner
Home field	Waldstadion
Results
Record	4–6
Division place	5th
Playoff finish	did not qualify
← 1996 Frankfurt Galaxy 1998 →

Offseason

World League draft

1997 Frankfurt Galaxy World League draft selections

Draft order		Player name	Position	College
Round	Choice
1	5	Joe Garten	C	Colorado
2	11	Ashley Sheppard	LB	Clemson
3	14	Beno Bryant	RB	Washington
4	23	Shawn Banks	LB	Texas Tech
5	26	Tommy Johnson	CB	Alabama
6	35	Travis Hannah	WR	USC
7	38	Jamie Coleman	CB	Appalachian State
8	47	Darren Reese	G	Ohio
9	50	Warner Smith	G	Arizona
10	59	Thomas McLemore	TE	Southern
11	62	Steve Keim	G	North Carolina State
12	71	Tuineau Alipate	LB	Washington State
13	74	Vince Marrow	TE	Toledo
14	83	Rogerick Green	CB	Kansas State
15	86	Vernon Turner	RB	Carson–Newman
16	95	Bruce Walker	DT	UCLA
17	98	John Morton	WR	Western Michigan
18	107	David Webb	LB	USC
19	110	Ronald Cherry	T	McNeese State
20	119	Jeff Rodgers	DE	Texas A&M–Kingsville
21	121	Dennis Allen	S	Texas A&M
22	127	Eddie Blake	G	Auburn
23	128	Mike Middleton	CB	Indiana
24	131	Richard DeFelice	K	North Texas

^[1]

Personnel

Staff

1997 Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe) staff

	Front office General Manager – Chris Heyne Deputy General Manager – Tilman Engel Head coaches Head Coach – Ernie Stautner Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers – John Payne Running Backs – Eric Carter Offensive Line – Rod Humenuik National Coach/Offensive Line Assistant – Alessandro Cinelli			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Ray Woodard Linebackers – John Paul Young Defensive Backs – Gary DeLoach

^[2]

Roster

1997 Frankfurt Galaxy (NFL Europe) roster

	Quarterbacks  5 Chad May 16 Steve Pelluer 18 Steve Taneyhill Running backs 19 Jim Kitts FB 30 Bobby Phillips 20 Vernon Turner Wide receivers 81 Mario Bailey 80 Travis Hannah 88 John Morton  8 Jason Shelley Tight ends 85 Vince Marrow		Offensive linemen 70 David Bailey G 77 Joe Carollo C/G 65 Ron Collins T 66 Joe Garten C 71 Shawn Harper T 55 Nate Miller G 74 Andrew Moore T Defensive linemen 96 Scotty Lewis DE 90 Don Reynolds DT 97 Oscar Sturgis DE 91 Bruce Walker DT 93 David Webb DE		Linebackers 56 Tuineau Alipate 44 Brian Pirone 50 Shawn Banks OLB 51 Andre Bowden OLB 57 Hillary Butler MLB Defensive backs 42 Johnny Dixon S 22 Cecil Doggette CB 43 Greg Evans 32 Chris Hall S 21 Jack Kellogg CB 39 Barron Miles Special teams  2 Scott Player P		National players 94 Raphael Graetz LB 11 Jörg Heckenbach WR 86 Werner Hippler TE  9 Ralf Kleinmann K 99 Frank Messmer DE 26 Volker Schenk DB 24 Ingo Seibert RB Rookies in italics

^[2]

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff [n 1]	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
				Final score	Team record
1	Sunday, April 13	3:00 p.m.	at London Monarchs	L 7–14	0–1	Stamford Bridge	10,718
2	Saturday, April 19	7:00 p.m.	Amsterdam Admirals	W 19–10	1–1	Waldstadion	31,729
3	Saturday, April 26	7:30 p.m.	at Barcelona Dragons	W 17–10	2–1	Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc	13,102
4	Saturday, May 3	7:00 p.m.	Scottish Claymores	L 3–9	2–2	Waldstadion	32,690
5	Saturday, May 10	7:00 p.m.	at Rhein Fire	L 7–10	2–3	Rheinstadion	32,140
6	Saturday, May 17	7:00 p.m.	Rhein Fire	L 20–21	2–4	Waldstadion	39,182
7	Saturday, May 24	7:00 p.m.	London Monarchs	W 31–7	3–4	Waldstadion	30,723
8	Sunday, June 1	3:00 p.m.	at Scottish Claymores	L 7–24	3–5	Murrayfield Stadium	11,618
9	Saturday, June 7	7:00 p.m.	Barcelona Dragons	W 29–17	4–5	Waldstadion	40,743
10	Saturday, June 14	7:00 p.m.	at Amsterdam Admirals	L 7–20	4–6	Amsterdam ArenA	19,486

^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]}

Standings

World League of American Football
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	STK
Rhein Fire	7	3	0	.700	206	146	3–2	4–1	W3
Barcelona Dragons	5	5	0	.500	236	209	2–3	3–2	W1
Scottish Claymores	5	5	0	.500	134	154	2–3	3–2	L2
Amsterdam Admirals	5	5	0	.500	156	160	4–1	1–4	W1
Frankfurt Galaxy	4	6	0	.400	147	142	3–2	1–4	L1
London Monarchs	4	6	0	.400	116	184	2–3	2–3	L1

^[3]

Game summaries

Week 1: at London Monarchs

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	7	0	0	0	7
London	0	6	6	2	14

Week One: Frankfurt Galaxy at London Monarchs – Game summary

at Stamford Bridge, London, England

• Date: Sunday, April 13
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
• Game attendance: 10,718
• Referee: Bill Carollo
• ^[4]

Week 2: vs Amsterdam Admirals

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Amsterdam	0	3	7	0	10
Frankfurt	10	3	3	3	19

Week Two: Amsterdam Admirals at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, April 19
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 31,729
• Referee: Mike Pereira
• ^[5]

Week 3: at Barcelona Dragons

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	3	3	11	17
Barcelona	7	0	0	3	10

Week Three: Frankfurt Galaxy at Barcelona Dragons – Game summary

at Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Barcelona, Spain

• Date: Saturday, April 26
• Game time: 7:30 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 13,102
• Referee: Ron Winter
• ^[6]

Week 4: vs Scottish Claymores

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Scotland	3	0	0	6	9
Frankfurt	0	3	0	0	3

Week Four: Scottish Claymores at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 3
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 32,690
• Referee: Walt Coleman
• ^[7]

Week 5: at Rhein Fire

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	7	0	0	7
Rhein	0	0	7	3	10

Week Five: Frankfurt Galaxy at Rhein Fire – Game summary

at Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 10
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 32,140
• Referee: Phil Luckett
• ^[8]

Week 6: vs Rhein Fire

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rhein	0	14	0	7	21
Frankfurt	3	7	7	3	20

Week Six: Rhein Fire at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 17
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 39,182
• ^[9]

Week 7: vs London Monarchs

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
London	0	7	0	0	7
Frankfurt	6	11	0	14	31

Week Seven: London Monarchs at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, May 24
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 30,723
• ^[10]

Week 8: at Scottish Claymores

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	0	0	7	7
Scotland	0	3	14	7	24

Week Eight: Frankfurt Galaxy at Scottish Claymores – Game summary

at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland

• Date: Sunday, June 1
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. BST
• Game attendance: 11,618
• ^[11]

Week 9: vs Barcelona Dragons

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Barcelona	10	0	0	7	17
Frankfurt	0	21	2	6	29

Week Nine: Barcelona Dragons at Frankfurt Galaxy – Game summary

at Waldstadion, Frankfurt, Germany

• Date: Saturday, June 7
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 40,743
• ^[12]

Week 10: at Amsterdam Admirals

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Frankfurt	0	7	0	0	7
Amsterdam	0	7	13	0	20

Week Ten: Frankfurt Galaxy at Amsterdam Admirals – Game summary

at Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands

• Date: Saturday, June 14
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CEST
• Game attendance: 19,486
• ^[13]

Awards

After the completion of the regular season, the All-World League team was selected by members of the media.^[14] Overall, Frankfurt had eight players selected.^[14] The selections were:

• Shawn Banks, linebacker
• Hillary Butler, linebacker
• Johnny Dixon, safety
• Cecil Doggette, cornerback
• Jack Kellogg, cornerback
• Ralf Kleinmann, placekicker
• Frank Messmer, defensive national player
• Bobby Phillips, running back

Notes

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

References

1. "1997 World League draft". WorldLeague.com. Archived from the original on July 9, 1997. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
2. 1997 Frankfurt Galaxy Media Guide.
3. "1997 Season in Review". The Official 1998 NFL Europe League Fact Book. pp. 218–222.
4. Halling, Nick (April 14, 1997). "Monarchs make winning start". The Independent. London, England. Archived from the original on 2022-05-01. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
5. Associated Press (April 19, 1997). "Galaxy 19, Admirals 10". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
6. Associated Press (April 26, 1997). "Last minute touchdown gives Galaxy 10–17 victory over Dragons". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
7. Associated Press (May 3, 1997). "Claymores 9, Galaxy 3". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
8. Associated Press (May 10, 1997). "Fire 10, Galaxy 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
9. Associated Press (May 17, 1997). "Fire 21, Galaxy 20". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
10. Associated Press (May 24, 1997). "Galaxy 31, Monarchs 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
11. Associated Press (June 1, 1997). "Claymores 24, Galaxy 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
12. Associated Press (June 7, 1997). "Galaxy 29, Dragons 17". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
13. Associated Press (June 14, 1997). "Admirals 20, Galaxy 7". APNewsArchive.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
14. "1997 All-World League team". WorldLeague.com. June 20, 1997. Archived from the original on July 9, 1997. Retrieved June 30, 2013.