Pete Gogolak

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Pete Gogolak
Position (s):
Kicker
Jersey number (s):
3
born on April 18, 1942 in Budapest , Hungary
Career information
Active : 1964 - 1974
AFL Draft : 1964 / Round: 12 / Pick: 92
College : Cornell
Teams
Career statistics
Field goals     173/294
PATs     344/354
Points     863
Stats at NFL.com
Stats at pro-football-reference.com
Career highlights and awards

Pete Gogolak (born April 18, 1942 in Budapest , actually Péter Kornél Gogolák ) is a former Hungarian - American football player . The 1.82 meter tall gogolak played the position of placekicker for the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League and the New York Giants of the National Football League . He introduced the soccer- like shooting technique and was one of the first players to switch between AFL and NFL.

Career

Gogolak came to the United States as an immigrant from Hungary with his parents in 1957. He established himself as a placekicker on the Cornell University football team , although his shooting technique was unusual at the time. Since Gogolak had previously played football, he kicked the football with a strong sideways movement with his instep (similar to a goalkeeper when kicking) instead of hitting the egg head-on with his toes, as was common at the time. Gogolak's technique provided a distance of 40 yards and more, which was unusual at the time .

In the 1964 AFL draft, Gogolak was drawn in 92nd place by the Buffalo Bills. With 102 points, a hit rate of 65.5% on field goals and 45 of 46 successful point-after touchdowns, he got off to a good start and won the AFL championship with the Bills in 1964. In the following year, Gogolak increased to 115 points at 28 field goals (league record), was elected to the AFL All-Star Team in 1965 and defended the AFL title with the Bills. Although he was very successful in sports, Gogolak was dissatisfied because he felt underpaid. Before the 1965 season, Gogolak moved to the New York Giants of the competitive NFL league. This made him one of the first football players to switch between AFL and NFL. He was also successful with the Giants. With 646 points he is the Giants record holder and a member of the Ring of Honor of the New York team.

Gogolak's "soccer kick" is standard in football today. His innovation was recognized by NFL.com as one of "10 Innovations That Changed the Game".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Top Ten Things that Changed the Game: Pete Gogolak , NFL.com