April 15, 2004

Charleston, SC - Citadel basketball-standout-turned-football-standout Cliff Washburn '02, although the property of the NFL's Chicago Bears, is playing for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe.

A defensive end, Washburn is one of four former I-AA football players on the Admirals' roster joining OT Mario Branch of Mississippi Valley State, TE Kane Anderson of New Hampshire and CB Ligarius Jennings of Tennessee State.

NFL Europe has five teams and features 25 former I-AA players and, along with Washburn, includes former Southern Conference standouts TE Daniel Wilcox of Appalachian State, TE Yoan Schnee of Chattanooga, CB Earthwind Moreland of Georgia Southern and QB David Rivers of Western Carolina.

In addition to the Amsterdam Admirals, other teams in the league include the Frankfurt Galaxy, Cologne Centurions, Rhein Fire, Berlin Thunder and Scottish Claymores. The league plays its games on Saturdays and Sundays, and the schedule runs from April 3 through June 12 when World Bowl XII is held.

Former members of the Amsterdam Admirals to star in the NFL include QB Kurt Warner of the St. Louis Cardinals, K Adam Vinateri of the New England Patriots, QB Jay Fiedler of the Miami Dolphins, QB Shaun Hill of the Minnesota Vikings and P Darren Bennett of the San Diego Chargers.

In an interesting sidebar, former "Voice of the Bulldogs" Craig Shemon has FOX television play-by-play responsibilities for the April 18 Amsterdam-Scottish game and the April 25 Frankfurt-Amsterdam game, and is sure to point out Washburn's unique background.