2003 Washington Redskins season

The 2003 season was the Washington Redskins' 72nd season in the National Football League (NFL). 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.^[1] This was their worst season since 1994.^[2]

2003 Washington Redskins season
Owner	Daniel Snyder
General manager	Vinny Cerrato
Head coach	Steve Spurrier
Offensive coordinator	Hue Jackson
Defensive coordinator	George Edwards
Home stadium	FedExField
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	3rd NFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
All-Pros	CB Champ Bailey (1st & 2nd team) LB LaVar Arrington (2nd team)
Pro Bowlers	WR Laveranues Coles LB LaVar Arrington CB Champ Bailey
← 2002 Redskins seasons 2004 →

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^[3] and the first time ever the Redskins had played at the Georgia Dome,^[3] 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 47 Bryan Johnson FB 22 Sultan McCullough 20 Chad Morton 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/T 64 Lennie Friedman C 76 Jon Jansen T 60 Chris Samuels T 67 Daryl Terrell G/T 77 Randy Thomas G 68 Brandon Winey T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 Martin Chase DT 95 Lional Dalton DT 90 Bernard Holsey DT 96 Darrell Russell DT 78 Bruce Smith DE 91 Regan Upshaw DE 94 Ron Warner DE 97 Renaldo Wynn DE 93 Peppi Zellner DE

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

Practice squad 72 Nic Clemons DT 19 Scott Cloman WR -- Brandon Doman QB 61 Ben Nowland C -- Greg White DE Reserve 59 Chris Clemons LB (IR) 74 Dave Fiore G (IR) 99 Jermaine Haley DT (IR) 73 Kenyatta Jones T (IR) 50 Larry Moore C (IR) 75 Brandon Noble DT (IR) 26 Ifeanyi Ohalete S (IR) 11 Patrick Ramsey QB (IR) 88 Robert Royal TE (IR) Rookies in italics 53 active, 9 reserve, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

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

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	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