| No. 8, 10, 16, 18 | |||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | (1962-12-04)December 4, 1962 (age 62) Carlisle, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 207 lb (94 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Cumberland Valley(Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||
| College: | Maryland | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1986: 6th round, 150th pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Stanley Morris Gelbaugh (born December 4, 1962) is an American former professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for theBuffalo Bills,Phoenix Cardinals andSeattle Seahawks. He attained his greatest success in theWorld League of American Football (WLAF) with theLondon Monarchs, where he was the league's OffensiveMost Valuable Player in its inaugural season. He playedcollege football for theMaryland Terrapins.
Gelbaugh lettered infootball,basketball andtrack atCumberland Valley High School. He played as aquarterback,punter andplacekicker.
He accepted a football scholarship fromthe University of Maryland. As aredshirt freshman he was tried atwide receiver in the spring, before being switched back toquarterback in the fall.
He spent his first two and a half years punting and as the backup toBoomer Esiason in1983 andFrank Reich in the1984 season. After Reich went down with a shoulder injury in Week 4 againstWake Forest, Gelbaugh took over the starting role. After a loss toPenn 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 visitingBernie Kosar and the defending national championMiami 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.[1]
Going into thefollowing season, he was the starting quarterback for a team that was ranked #1 in the preseason poll.[2] 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 againstClemson 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 theAtlantic Coast Conference, giving them the conference title.[2][3] The season ended with a victory overSyracuse in theCherry Bowl, where he passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and added another rushing score.[4] Gelbaugh was named offensive MVP of the game.[5]
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.[6]
Gelbaugh was selected in the sixth round (150th overall) of the1986 NFL draft by theDallas Cowboys.[7] On August 18, he was waived after not being able to passReggie Collier on the depth chart.[8][9]
He briefly became apunter for theSaskatchewan Roughriders of theCanadian Football League and averaged 40.2 yards on 45 punts, before being waived on October 7.[10] He also served as a backup quarterback, though he did not throw a pass.[11]
Gelbaugh signed with theBuffalo Bills in November 1986,[12] and served asJim Kelly's backup (he was active in 5 games).[2] He injured his elbow during training campthe following year, and was placed oninjured reserve.[2] In1988, 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.[2] Despite being waived three times by the Bills in1989, he did see some action at the end of a game against theNew York Jets, taking a knee to end the game.[2][13] All told, during his time with the Bills, he was signed and waived four times.[2][10]
He signed with theCincinnati Bengals in the 1990 offseason as afree agent. Even though coachSam Wyche thought he was good enough to be a starter, he was cut before training camp was completed.[2] In 1990, he was sellingphotocopiers andfax machines to make money while still looking for a job in football; he would later remark that he would sooner face ablitz than deal with secretaries.[2][14]
In the spring of 1990, theNational Football League set up a developmental league for players, with several teams inEurope, called theWorld League of American Football.Jim Haslett, a former teammate of Gelbaugh's with the Bills, was an assistant coach with theSacramento 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.[15] However, the Surge passed on Gelbaugh and pickedAnthony Henton, a linebacker. He ended up with theLondon Monarchs.[15] London's head coach wasLarry Kennan, who had worked out Gelbaugh while Kennan was an assistant with theLos Angeles Raiders.[16] Gelbaugh didn't think the job would last, and even after being drafted, made plans to get his teaching certificate and teach atDeMatha Catholic High School inHyattsville, Maryland.[15]
"We had only 10 footballs; the rest were stuck in customs. We played with the same footballs for two weeks. After one day, they were all bad. After five days it was ridiculous. It was like a throwback. I felt like Otto Graham out there throwing a stuffed pillow."
In the first game of the new league, Gelbaugh and fellow Monarchs quarterbackJohn Witkowski led the Monarchs to victory over theFrankfurt Galaxy.[16][17] Gelbaugh's 96-yard touchdown to Jon Horton was the league's first passing touchdown.[18] In week 2, he took over the starting job full-time, and led the Monarchs to a comeback victory against theNew York/New Jersey Knights in the Monarchs' home opener, the first of three straight 300-yard games for Gelbaugh.[16][19] In Week 5, he threw for four touchdowns and 286 yards as the Monarchs beat theMontreal Machine 45–7.[20] The following week, he led the Monarchs over theRaleigh-Durham Skyhawks with 361 yards and three touchdowns.[21] After getting knocked out of a game against the Knights with a bruised shoulder in week 8,[22] he returned the following game to throw for 325 yards and a touchdown in a victory over theSacramento Surge.[23]
He credited much of his success to hisoffensive line, nicknamed the "Nasty Boyz", who allowed the fewest sacks in the league.[24] The Monarchs finished the regular season with a loss to theBarcelona Dragons, 20–17; the loss would end up being the only one of the year.[22] In the playoffs, Gelbaugh got revenge on the Knights for his injury by throwing for 391 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 42–26 comeback victory to send the Monarchs to the inauguralWorld Bowl.[25]
In the World Bowl, Gelbaugh managed the Monarchs effectively, throwing for 191 yards and two touchdowns en route to a 21–0 Monarchs victory over Barcelona.[26] He finished the season atop several passing categories; his 2,655 yards, 92.8passer rating, and .624completion percentage were best in the league, and he was tied for the lead in touchdown passes (17).[23] For his efforts, he was namedOffensiveMost Valuable Player of the league, earning him a $25,000 bonus.[2][23]
After his success in Europe, he initially failed to sign with an NFL team. Due to WLAF rules, any NFL team signing him would have had to pay double his WLAF salary, which ended up as $90,000 after bonuses, just to negotiate with him.[18][27] In the end, the WLAF waived the fee, leaving Gelbaugh free to sign with any team.[27] Although he was interested in joining theSan Diego Chargers,[27] he signed with theHamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL as a member of their practice squad.[28] The two sides could not come to an agreement, and Gelbaugh was waived in August.[2]
He signed with theKansas City Chiefs on August 12 and was waived seven days later. On September 18, he was signed by thePhoenix Cardinals, who were having quarterback trouble after starterTimm Rosenbach was injured for the season, and backupTom Tupa was underperforming.[2] After appearances in two games againstMinnesota and theNew York Giants, he earned his first start in a 14–10 loss toSan Francisco in Week 12.[2][29] A week later, he was picked off four times by thePhiladelphia Eagles, and the next week he was pulled in favor ofChris Chandler after blowing a lead against theWashington Redskins.[29][30] Gelbaugh played one more time in the season finale againstNew Orleans after Chandler was intercepted twice; Gelbaugh threw three interceptions in a Cardinals loss.[29][31]
Gelbaugh later announced that he would return to the Monarchs for the 1992 WLAF season; although he was contractually obligated to return, he viewed it as another opportunity for him to showcase his talents for a possible NFL return.[28] Before his return, he was signed by theSeattle Seahawks, who picked him up as a Plan B free agent.[32] He signed with Seattle because the Seahawks' offensive coordinator,Larry Kennan, was his coach with the Monarchs.[31]
Gelbaugh's first game back was an overtime victory over the Knights in London; he finished the day with 349 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception.[33] Unfortunately, under new head coachRay Willsey the Monarchs would go on a seven-game winless streak.[34] The lone highlight of the season was a 45–13 drubbing of the Montreal Machine, but the Monarchs finished the season 2-7-1 and at the bottom of the European division.[34]
His numbers were down slightly from his MVP season a year earlier; he finished the season with 1,966 yards, and 11 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.[35] Although the league suspended play after the 1992 season, Gelbaugh did not want to return anyway, citing the stress of two seasons in one year as too much.[31]
Gelbaugh joined the Seahawks for the1992 season, planning to be the third-string quarterback behindDan McGwire andKelly Stouffer.[36] His first appearance came in relief of McGwire in week 7 against theDallas Cowboys, but he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, and the Seahawks lost 27–0.[37][38] With McGwire oninjured reserve and Stouffer injured, Gelbaugh got the start the following week against theLos Angeles Raiders, but the Seahawks were shut out for the second consecutive week.[39] He started the next two games, both Seahawks losses, while waiting for Stouffer to return from his shoulder injury.[31]
His next action would come in relief of Stouffer against theDenver Broncos, and he would lead the team to an improbable comeback onMonday Night Football, throwing a game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation.[40] The Seahawks would win the game inovertime onJohn Kasay's 32-yard game winner; Gelbaugh finished the evening with 164 yards and a touchdown in less than a full quarter's work.[40] He would continue to trade time with Stouffer for the rest of the season, but the Seahawks were unable to win any more games, and finished the season with the fewest points scored in a 16-game season in league history.[41]
Although Gelbaugh was resigned for the1993 season,[42] his only appearance came in relief of injured starterRick Mirer in the fourth quarter of a game against theNew England Patriots.[43] He then spent two years on the bench, only making a brief appearance in the1994 season finale.[44] In 1996, he started the last regular season game against the Raiders, but was injured on the second series of downs after tearing a groin muscle.[45] Gelbaugh retired after the 1996 season.
Gelbaugh's nickname while playing was "Blueprint", due to his knowledge of many different offenses.[46] (The nickname proved to be appropriate for his post-football career: he is now the senior vice president at Kalmia, an interior construction company in Maryland.)[47] Stan is married to Denise Del Vecchio Gelbaugh. He has two children, Paul and Elizabeth; three step-sons, Andrew, Patrick, and Sam; and a grandson, Wyatt.
