2003 Washington Redskins season

2003 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Daniel Snyder
Head coach	Steve Spurrier
Home field	FedExField
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 2003 Washington Redskins season was the franchise's 72nd season in the National Football League. The team failed to improve on their 7–9 record from 2002, dropping to 5-11 and missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year. This was their worst season since 1994.

This was the first season since 1982 that the Redskins did not have cornerback Darrell Green, who retired after the 2002 season. Owing to different formulas for intraconference scheduling used by the NFL before 2002, it was the first time since 1994 that the Redskins played the Atlanta Falcons and the first time ever the Redskins had played at the Georgia Dome, which opened in 1992. During the season the Redskins wore a patch on their jerseys with the initials "GSS: Hail to the Redskins" to commemorate Gerald S. Snyder, the father of owner Daniel Snyder who had died during the 2003 offseason.

Following the season, defensive end Bruce Smith retired after 19 seasons in the NFL, Pro Bowl defensive back Champ Bailey would be traded to the Denver Broncos and head coach Steve Spurrier left after spending only two seasons coaching the Redskins.

Offseason

The Redskins acquired former New York Jets players Randy Thomas, John Hall, Laveranues Coles, and Chad Morton in free agency.

NFL Draft

Main article: 2003 NFL Draft

2003 Washington Redskins draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	44	Taylor Jacobs	WR	Florida
3	81	Derrick Dockery	G	Texas
7	232	Gibran Hamdan	QB	Indiana
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

2003 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Chris Clemons	Defensive end	Georgia
Ade Jimoh	Cornerback	Utah State
Sultan McCullough	Running back	USC
Clifton Smith	Linebacker	Syracuse
Kevin Ware	Tight end	Washington

Roster

2003 Washington Redskins roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 12 Gibran Hamdan  8 Tim Hasselbeck Running backs (RB) 46 Ladell Betts 30 Trung Canidate 40 Rock Cartwright FB 47 Bryan Johnson FB 22 Sultan McCullough 20 Chad Morton RS 45 John Simon Wide receivers (WR) 80 Laveranues Coles 87 Rod Gardner 86 Taylor Jacobs 84 Patrick Johnson 85 Darnerien McCants 83 Cliff Russell Tight ends (TE) 82 Byron Chamberlain 89 Zeron Flemister 48 Kevin Ware

Offensive linemen (OL) 66 Derrick Dockery G 79 Pita Elisara G 64 Lennie Friedman C 76 Jon Jansen T 60 Chris Samuels T 67 Daryl Terrell G 77 Randy Thomas G 68 Brandon Winey T Defensive linemen (DL) 95 Lional Dalton DT 92 Martin Chase DT 90 Bernard Holsey DT 96 Darrell Russell DT 78 Bruce Smith DE 91 Regan Upshaw DE 97 Renaldo Wynn DE 93 Peppi Zellner DE

Linebackers (LB) 98 Jessie Armstead OLB 56 LaVar Arrington OLB 52 Lemar Marshall ILB 55 Kevin Mitchell OLB 58 Antonio Pierce ILB 51 Clifton Smith OLB 54 Jeremiah Trotter ILB 94 Ron Warner Defensive backs (DB) 24 Champ Bailey CB 25 Rashad Bauman 41 Matt Bowen FS 29 Todd Franz SS 23 Ade Jimoh CB 34 Andre Lott 21 Fred Smoot CB 31 David Terrell FS Special teams 71 Ethan Albright LS  4 Bryan Barker P 10 John Hall K

Practice squad 19 Scott Cloman WR Reserve -- Bruce Branch CB (IR) 59 Chris Clemons LB (IR) 74 Dave Fiore G (IR) 99 Jermaine Haley DT (IR) -- Kenyatta Jones T (IR) 50 Larry Moore C (IR) 75 Brandon Noble DT (IR) 26 Ifeanyi Ohalete SS (IR) 11 Patrick Ramsey QB (IR) 88 Robert Royal TE (IR) Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Network	Kickoff (EST)	Attendance
1	September 4, 2003	New York Jets	W 16–13	FedExField	1–0	ABC	9:00pm	85,420
2	September 14, 2003	at Atlanta Falcons	W 33–31	Georgia Dome	2–0	FOX	1:00pm	70,241
3	September 21, 2003	New York Giants	L 21–24 (OT)	FedExField	2–1	FOX	4:15pm	84,856
4	September 28, 2003	New England Patriots	W 20–17	FedExField	3–1	CBS	1:00pm	83,632
5	October 5, 2003	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 25–27	Lincoln Financial Field	3–2	FOX	4:15pm	67,792
6	October 12, 2003	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 13–35	FedExField	3–3	FOX	1:00pm	85,490
7	October 19, 2003	at Buffalo Bills	L 7–24	Ralph Wilson Stadium	3–4	FOX	4:15pm	73,149
8	Bye
9	November 2, 2003	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14–21	Texas Stadium	3–5	FOX	4:15pm	64,002
10	November 9, 2003	Seattle Seahawks	W 27–20	FedExField	4–5	FOX	1:00pm	80,728
11	November 16, 2003	at Carolina Panthers	L 17–20	Ericsson Stadium	4–6	FOX	1:00pm	73,263
12	November 23, 2003	at Miami Dolphins	L 23–24	Pro Player Stadium	4–7	ESPN	8:30pm	73,578
13	November 30, 2003	New Orleans Saints	L 20–24	FedExField	4–8	FOX	4:05pm	76,821
14	December 7, 2003	at New York Giants	W 20–7	Giants Stadium	5–8	FOX	1:00pm	78,217
15	December 14, 2003	Dallas Cowboys	L 0–27	FedExField	5–9	FOX	4:15pm	70,284
16	December 21, 2003	at Chicago Bears	L 24–27	Soldier Field	5–10	FOX	1:00pm	61,719
17	December 27, 2003	Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–31	FedExField	5–11	ESPN	8:30pm	76,766

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
(1) Philadelphia Eagles	12	4	0	.750	5–1	9–3	374	287	W1
(6) Dallas Cowboys	10	6	0	.625	5–1	8–4	289	260	L1
Washington Redskins	5	11	0	.313	1–5	3–9	287	372	L3
New York Giants	4	12	0	.250	1–5	3–9	243	387	L8