2003 Arena Football League season

The 2003 Arena Football League season was the 17th season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 2004. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Arizona Rattlers in ArenaBowl XVII. The AFL expanded its season from 14 games to 16 games.

2003 Arena Football League season
League	Arena Football League
Sport	Arena football
Duration	January 31, 2003 – June 22, 2003
ArenaBowl XVII
Champions	Tampa Bay Storm
Runners-up	Arizona Rattlers
Finals MVP	Lawrence Samuels, TB

Desperados

Firebirds

Rampage

Rush

Avengers

Crush

Rattlers

SaberCats

Cobras

Force

Predators

Storm

Dragons

Destroyers

Fury

Gladiators

National: Eastern, Southern
American: Western, Central

Standings

Team[1]	Overall			Division
	Wins	Losses	Percentage	Wins	Losses	Percentage
National Conference
Eastern Division
New York Dragons	8	8	0.500	4	2	0.667
Detroit Fury	8	8	0.500	3	3	0.500
Las Vegas Gladiators	8	8	0.500	4	2	0.667
Buffalo Destroyers	5	11	0.312	1	5	0.167
Southern Division
Tampa Bay Storm	12	4	0.750	5	1	0.833
Orlando Predators	12	4	0.750	4	2	0.667
Georgia Force	8	8	0.500	3	3	0.500
Carolina Cobras	0	16	0.000	0	6	0.000
American Conference
Central Division
Dallas Desperados	10	6	0.625	3	3	0.500
Grand Rapids Rampage	8	8	0.500	3	3	0.500
Chicago Rush	8	8	0.500	2	4	0.333
Indiana Firebirds	6	10	0.375	4	2	0.667
Western Division
San Jose SaberCats	12	4	0.750	5	1	0.833
Los Angeles Avengers	11	5	0.687	4	2	0.667
Arizona Rattlers	10	6	0.625	3	3	0.500
Colorado Crush	2	14	0.125	0	6	0.000

• Green indicates clinched playoff berth
• Purple indicates division champion
• Grey indicates best regular season record

Playoffs

All games televised by NBC.

	Wild Card Round					Quarterfinals					Semifinals					ArenaBowl XVII
						1	San Jose	69
						12	Georgia	48
	5	Dallas	45
	12	Georgia	49
											1	San Jose	49
											6	Arizona	66
	6	Arizona	69
	11	Las Vegas	26
						4	Los Angeles	63
						6	Arizona	70
																6	Arizona	29
																2	Tampa Bay	43
						2	Tampa Bay	52
						10	Detroit	48
	7	Grand Rapids	54
	10	Detroit	55
											2	Tampa Bay	60
											3	Orlando	50
	8	New York	48
	9	Chicago	45
						3	Orlando	69
						8	New York	62

Source:^[2]

All-Arena team

Position[3]	First team	Second team
Quarterback	Sherdrick Bonner, Arizona	Jim Kubiak, Dallas
Fullback/Linebacker	Keala Keanaaina, San Jose	Rodney Filer, New York
Wide receiver/Defensive back	Randy Gatewood, Arizona Barry Wagner, San Jose	Will Pettis, Dallas Evan Hlavacek, Indiana
Wide receiver/Linebacker	Greg Hopkins, Los Angeles	Lawrence Samuels, Tampa Bay
Offensive specialist	Chris Jackson, Los Angeles	Antonio Chatman, Chicago
Offensive lineman/Defensive lineman	Tom Briggs, Dallas John Moyer, Chicago Jermaine Smith, Georgia	B.J. Cohen, Tampa Bay Ernest Allen, Orlando Sam Hernandez, San Jose
Defensive specialist	Clevan Thomas, San Jose Kenny McEntyre, Orlando	Dwaine Carpenter, Buffalo Omarr Smith, Tampa Bay
Kicker	Clay Rush, Indiana	Steve Videtich, Las Vegas

References

1. "2003 ARFL Season". ProFootballArchives.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
2. "2003 Arena Football League Schedule". ArenaFan.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
3. "2003 Arena Football League". StatsCrew.com. Retrieved February 13, 2023.