Bills Alumni Spotlight: Pete Gogolak

buffalobills.com
February 13, 2004

By Jim Gehman

Gogolak helped the Bills to a 12-2 record in 1964, a 10-3-1 mark in 1965, and back-to-back AFL Championship Game victories over the Chargers.

Pete Gogolak enjoyed being the first in line. He was the first place-kicker ever drafted by the Bills, the first soccer-style kicker in professional football and the first free agent to jump from the AFL to the NFL.

Gogolak and his family arrived in the United States in 1957, following the Hungarian revolution. Fourteen-years-old at the time, he was a soccer player whose school in Ogdensburg, NY, didn’t have a team. Instead, Gogolak was introduced to the game of football.

From there, he went to Cornell University where he continued playing football and in ‘64, was selected by Buffalo in the twelfth round of the AFL draft.

"I was very happy and at the same time disappointed that nobody drafted me from the NFL," said Gogolak. "Nobody wanted to take a chance on me, basically. Nobody had ever seen anybody kick the ball this way. Harvey Johnson was the only scout that ever looked at me and he said, ‘We’re going to give a chance to this guy.’ So they drafted me. Before that, they never, ever carried a kicker, a kicking specialist. Basically, Buffalo took a chance on me."

The Bills may have taken a chance on him, but quarterback and the team’s previous holder Jack Kemp wasn’t really eager to work with the unusual kicker.

"Kemp was very concerned," Gogolak remembered. "In practice, this rookie comes in and says, ‘Let’s try some field goals,’ and he saw me lining up from the side. He says, ‘Hey Coach Saban, what is this guy doing? I’m not going to hold for him. I’ve got a finger to protect.’ That was a concern and he didn’t hold, so Daryle Lamonica became the holder.

"I always liked to come in with a fresh guy from the sideline," Gogolak said. "I’d rather come in as a kicker and a holder, rather than somebody who’s already playing. The reason is, if the quarterback who is playing, and I come in, it’s usually when the team doesn’t go. I don’t want a quarterback who is still thinking of the third down play that he didn’t make. I need total concentration. So Lamonica came in with me and we made a pretty good team."

"No one had ever held for a soccer-style kicker, but he knew exactly how he wanted the ball," Lamonica said. "He wanted me to tilt the ball on long field goals and hold it straight up and down for 30 yards or less. He was a great kicker. His ball just exploded and got great height. Nobody could jump up and block it. He was a real asset."

Gogolak began to prove that during his first exhibition game, a 26-13 victory over the New York Jets in Tampa, Fla.

"I kicked a 57-yard field goal," said Gogolak. "It kind of said this guy can do it. The amazing thing is, Buffalo had the headlines and everything, it was the longest kick ever in pro football history, and the New York papers never, ever said anything about it because of the rivalry between the two leagues."

Once the regular season began, Gogolak’s performance couldn’t be ignored. He kicked 19 field goals and 45 extra points, finishing with 102 points, or 40 more than Mack Yoho led the Bills with in ‘63. Gogolak topped his own mark the following year with 115 points, both seasons, finishing second in the league in scoring. More importantly, he helped the Bills to a 12-2 record in ‘64, a 10-3-1 mark in ‘65, and back-to-back AFL Championship Game victories over the Chargers.

"The key was every time we ran on the field, we knew we were going to win," Gogolak said. "That type of a feeling, plus Lou Saban believed in a very cohesive veteran offensive line. We had a very good offensive line and also a pretty good defensive line. These guys, Billy Shaw, Al Bemiller, Ernie Warlick and Dave Costa, the tight ends, these guys were kind of the heart of the team. And of course, Cookie Gilchrist was excellent. Every position, we had some strength and we just kind of blossomed. We just had a very good team and we beat San Diego twice."

The ‘65 title game was Gogolak’s finale with the Bills. A little over four months later, he became the first AFL player to cross to the National Football League.

"Being the second-highest scorer in the league as a rookie, I asked for a raise and they wouldn’t give it to me. I’ll tell you very frankly, I signed for $11,000 and I asked for 20. So I played out my contract. I didn’t talk to anybody and I became a free agent and that’s when the Giants approached me and signed me," said Gogolak. "In Buffalo, I think they thought I was a traitor, basically. I really loved Buffalo and I loved the team. It was a great football town. Very frankly, it was the best two years in my professional career and it was a wonderful place to play for. The whole town was behind you. I think it was just kind of a financial situation. I felt that I was worth that kind of money and the management felt that I wasn’t.

"I was the first player to switch leagues and that created a lot of emotion. Actually, I was hoping somebody from the AFL was going to call me. You could read it anyway you wanted to read it, but being the second-highest scorer in the league and nobody from the AFL calls you and say. ‘Hey listen, we need a kicker.’ It’s kind of surprising. So I jumped leagues and then, basically, it hit the fan. Al Davis started calling the NFL players and some of the NFL owners called the AFL players and basically what happened was six months later, the two leagues merged."

Gogolak played the next nine seasons for the Giants before retiring in ‘75. Since then, he has worked in the financial printing business in Manhattan and is now the vice president of sales for R. R. Donnelley and Sons. Gogolak and his wife, Katherine, live in Fairfield County, Conn., and have two adult sons; David and Tom, and one granddaughter.

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