As their teammates prepare for minicamp workouts in helmets and shorts in Flowery Branch, five Falcons are getting game action in NFL Europa as their season nears the halfway point.
P Adam Anderson (Hamburg Sea Devils), DT Michael Bozeman (Rhein Fire), CB Brent Grimes (Hamburg), RB Taurean Henderson (Rhein) and WR Dan Sheldon (Cologne Centurions) are participating as the Falcons' 2007 contingent.
The league is in its' 15th season of play and all but one of the clubs (Amsterdam Admirals) is located in Germany. Each team plays the other five clubs twice and the top two teams at the end of the season advance to World Bowl XV to be held in Frankfurt on 23.
The league with NFL rules with some exceptions. Field goals of 50 or more yards are worth four points, Kickers can use up to a one-inch tee on all placekicks, overtime is 10 minutes during the regular season and both teams must possess the ball once -- or have had the opportunity to possess the ball at least once -- the team with the most points once the possession requirement is met is the winner, a 35-second clock is used between plays and head coaches may go into his team's huddle during timeouts.
The Falcons allocated five players to NFL Europa. There was an NFL Allocated Player Draft and Sheldon was selected in the third round by Cologne while Henderson was taken in the seventh round by Rhein.
The other three were assigned to their clubs. Much like the regular roster setup of the NFL, practice squad players in NFLE can move to a different club. In the case of Grimes, he was placed on Rhein's practice squad for Week 1 and was moved to Hamburg's active roster in Week 2.
Henderson leads the Fire and is eighth in NFLE in rushing yards through four games with 33 carries for 108 yards and one touchdown. He also has seven catches for 24 yards, returned three kickoffs for 70 yards and has added one special teams tackle.
Despite his contributions, the Fire are 1-3 with a league-low 34 points scored and Henderson wants to contribute more.
"It's been stressful at times and disappointing because we haven't been a high-scoring offense, putting points on the board," he said. "It's all about going back and getting the little things right and having to get back to square one to get it done on the game field."
Henderson, who spent the final 10 weeks of the 2006 season on the Falcons practice squad, said that he is using his time in NFL Europa to strengthen his overall game.
"I think I have been able to learn more," the 5-10, 210-pound Texas Tech product said. "I've been taking more time to learn more about the defensive front and getting to know my offensive line more -- knowing their strengths and weaknesses. That's been helping me out a lot because it's helped me to develop more. There's always the competition at this level. We have a lot of other great backs here besides me and you can't help but think of yourself in the competition."
Grimes has thrived in Hamburg as he was played in the starting lineup last week vs. Rhein. He had three tackles and one pass defense and his recovery of a Henderson fumble for a 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter helped seal the Sea Devils' 34-9 victory over the Fire. He has six total tackles (all solo) with a pass defense to go along with his fumble recovery in the first four games.
Sheldon has seen time at receiver for the Centurions with two catches for 13 yards and has also worked as a return man with two punt returns for 14 yards and two kickoff returns for 63 yards.
Anderson has punted 13 times for the Sea Devils for a 39.1-yard gross and 33.8-yard net average with two touchbacks and three punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
Bozeman has four total tackles (three solo) with a quarterback hurry so far for the Fire.
The three-game Week 5 schedule has Amsterdam at Hamburg on Saturday (Noon ET; delayed telecast on NFL Network at 1 a.m. Sunday), Frankfurt at Rhein on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; live on NFL Network) and a Sunday matchup as Cologne travels to Berlin (10 a.m. ET; delayed telecast at 1 a.m. Monday on NFL Network).
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