Stan Gelbaugh

Stanley Morris Gelbaugh (born December 4, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, Phoenix Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.

He attained his greatest success in the World League of American Football (WLAF) with the London Monarchs, where he was the league's Offensive Most Valuable Player in its inaugural season.

He played college football for the Maryland Terrapins.

Gelbaugh lettered in football, basketball and track at Cumberland Valley High School.

He played as a quarterback, punter and placekicker.

He accepted a football scholarship from the University of Maryland.

As a redshirt freshman he was tried at wide receiver in the spring, before being switched back to quarterback in the fall.

He spent his first two and a half years punting and as the backup to Boomer Esiason in 1983 and Frank Reich in the 1984 season.

After Reich went down with a shoulder injury in Week 4 against Wake Forest, Gelbaugh took over the starting role.

After a loss to Penn State in which he set a school record with 48 pass attempts, Gelbaugh and the Terps reeled off three straight victories.

In Week 9, while visiting Bernie Kosar and the defending national champion Miami Hurricanes, the Hurricanes jumped out to a 31–0 lead at halftime.

Gelbaugh was replaced by Reich, who led the Terps to a thrilling 42–40 comeback in the second half, a then- record comeback in college football history.

Going into the following season, he was the starting quarterback for a team that was ranked #1 in the preseason poll.

He passed for 2,475 yards, breaking Esiason's single-season record.

He also broke the record for passing yardage in a game with 361 yards against Clemson University, led the ACC in total offense with 216.8 yards-per-game and was second in passing efficiency.

Even though the team went 9–3 overall, the team had a perfect 6–0 record in the Atlantic Coast Conference, giving them the conference title.

The season ended with a victory over Syracuse in the Cherry Bowl, where he passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and added another rushing score.

Gelbaugh was named offensive MVP of the game.

He finished his college career second overall in school history in yardage and third in completions.

He had a 13–4 record in the games he started and became the first Terrapins quarterback with three career 300-yard games.

Gelbaugh was selected in the sixth round (150th overall) of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

On August 18, he was waived after not being able to pass Reggie Collier on the depth chart.

He briefly became a punter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League and averaged 40.2 yards on 45 punts, before being waived on October 7.

He also served as a backup quarterback, though he did not throw a pass.

Gelbaugh signed with the Buffalo Bills in November 1986, and served as Jim Kelly's backup (he was active in 5 games).

He injured his elbow during training camp the following year, and was placed on injured reserve.

In 1988, he was waived and re-signed later in the week, though he still did not see any playing time and was active in only three games.

Despite being waived three times by the Bills in 1989, he did see some action at the end of a game against the New York Jets, taking a knee to end the game.

All told, during his time with the Bills, he was signed and waived four times.

He signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1990 offseason as a free agent.

Even though coach Sam Wyche thought he was good enough to be a starter, he was cut before training camp was completed.

In 1990, he was selling photocopiers and fax machines to make money while still looking for a job in football; he would later remark that he would sooner face a blitz than deal with secretaries.

In the spring of 1990, the National Football League set up a developmental league for players, with several teams in Europe, called the World League of American Football.

Jim Haslett, a former teammate of Gelbaugh's with the Bills, was an assistant coach with the Sacramento Surge.

Haslett convinced Gelbaugh to give up selling office equipment and come back to football.

The plan was for the Surge to draft Gelbaugh in the league's supplemental draft.

However, the Surge passed on Gelbaugh and picked Anthony Henton, a linebacker.

He ended up with the London Monarchs.

London's head coach was Larry Kennan, who had worked out Gelbaugh while Kennan was an assistant with the Los Angeles Raiders.

Gelbaugh didn't think the job would last, and even after being drafted, made plans to get his teaching certificate and teach at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland.