Pete Gogolak
Pete Gogolak ( born April 18, 1942 in Budapest, Péter actually Kornel Gogolák ) is a former Hungarian- American American football player. The 1.82 meter tall Gogolak played the position of the place kicker for the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League and the New York Giants of the National Football League. He introduced the football -like shooting technique and was one of the first players who switched between the AFL and NFL.
Career
Gogolak came in 1957 with his parents as an immigrant from Hungary to the United States. He established himself on the football team at Cornell University as a placekicker, though his shooting technique was unusual for those days. Since Gogolak had previously played football, he kicked the football with a strong sideways movement with the instep (similar to a goalie during push-off ), instead of as usual at that time head to hit the egg with the toes. Gogolaks technique provided a then unusual width of 40 yards or more.
The AFL Draft 1964 Gogolak was pulled from the Buffalo Bills at 92nd. With 102 points, a hit rate of 65.5 % on field goals and 45 of 46 successful point -after- touchdowns, he led well, and won with the Bills 1964 AFL Championship. The following year, Gogolak increased to 115 points with 28 field goals ( league record ), was elected to the AFL All- Star team in 1965 and defended with the Bills AFL title. Although he was very successful athletic, Gogolak was unhappy because he felt underpaid. Prior to the 1965 season Gogolak moved to the New York Giants of the NFL league competition. By this he was one of the first football player who switched between the AFL and NFL. With the Giants, he was also successful. With 646 points he points record holder of the Giants and a member of the Ring of Honor of the team from New York.
Gogolaks " soccer kick" is now standard in football. His innovation was from NFL.com honored as one of " 10 innovations that changed the game ."