Pete Gogolak
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | April 18, 1942 Budapest, Hungary | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Ogdensburg Free Academy (Ogdensburg, New York) | ||||||||
| College: | Cornell | ||||||||
| AFL draft: | 1964: 12th round, 92 (undrafted by the NFL)th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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Peter Kornel Gogolak (English: /ˈɡoʊɡəlæk/; Hungarian: Gogolák Péter Kornél; born April 18, 1942) is a Hungarian-born former American football player who was a placekicker in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, and in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Gogolak is widely considered the chief figure behind the game's adoption of soccer style placekicking. In 1966, after playing two seasons for the AFL's Bills, he joined the NFL's Giants in May after playing out his option, sparking the "war between the leagues" and effectively expediting the subsequent AFL–NFL merger agreement in June. He is distinguished as being the first Hungarian to play in the NFL.
In 2010, the New York Giants announced that Gogolak would be included in the team's new Ring of Honor to be displayed at all home games in their new stadium. To this day, he remains the Giants all-time leading scorer with 646 points.