Peter Gogolak and his family escaped from Communist Hungary during the 1956 revolution. Within 8 years of arriving in America, he was making football history. He introduced soccer-style place kicking in both college and professional football. At Cornell University, he made 54 consecutive extra points, a college record.
In 1964 he was overlooked by the NFL but drafted in the last round by the AFL Buffalo Bills. The Bills won the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships and Peter made the Sporting News All AFL Team. He was the first to switch from the AFL to the NFL, sparking the “war between the leagues” when he signed with the New York Giants, which led the the eventual merger of the two leagues.
Peter is still the all-time leading scorer of the New York Giants and in 2010 he was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Giant Stadium. In 2006 he was asked by the White House to be the US Citizen Representative in Budapest at the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution.
After his playing career, Peter was a long-time sales executive with the financial printing firm RR Donnelly.