By John Kavanagh
At the January 11 meeting of the Retired Men’s Association, Hollister Sturges introduced the speaker, Peter Gogolak, former place kicker for the New York Giants. Mr. Gogolak is famous for revolutionizing the way that field goals are kicked in American football. He emigrated from Hungary with his family and came to America when he was fourteen in 1956. His story is a wonderful example for us all.
In Hungary, Peter Gogolak and his family lived in a totalitarian communist state that dictated everything its citizens did. When the Communists took over in 1945, they nationalized all businesses, put all farming activities into collective farms, took away people’s professional status and forced them to work for low wages in government jobs, compelled homeowners to take strangers into their homes as full time residents, had local people spying on them, and had sometimes serious food shortages. Peter’s father, who had been a dentist before the Communist takeover, was compelled to become a government worker at much lower wages than he had received as a professional. He had to supplement the family’s income by doing illicit dental work in his home at night on the sly.
In 1956, the Hungarian people revolted against the Communist regime. The revolt lasted for about a month before the Soviets invaded Hungary and violently quashed the brief rebellion. It was at this point that his parents decided it was time to leave Hungary. They took a train to a town near Austria and walked across the border into Austria before eventually taking a plane to the United States. They were stationed at an army base until his father found work. Eventually, the family moved to upstate New York and Peter and his brother Charlie went to school there.
Peter had played soccer in Hungary, but there was no soccer team at his local school. So when he learned about American football and field goal kicking, he realized that this would be his entry into the world of football in the United States. He observed that all American field goal kicking was done through straight on kicking with the toe, which he felt would be much less effective than his soccer style kicking. So he joined the football team and began to practice and perfect his soccer style kicking of field goals and extra points.
He kicked in high school and eventually got a scholarship to go to Cornell to play football. There he made 54 consecutive extra points, a college record. He did very well, but didn’t get picked in the NFL draft. He sought out and got a former coach to recommend him for an AFL job, where he was picked last in the draft. He played for the Buffalo Bills for two years, as the Bills won the 1964 and 1965 AFL Championships and Peter made the Sporting News All AFL Team. He was the first player to switch from the AFL to the NFL, sparking the “war between the leagues” when he signed with the New York Giants, which led to the eventual merger of the two leagues.
While with the New York Giants he became their all-time high scorer. Peter is still the all-time leading scorer of the Giants and in 2010 he was inducted into the Ring of Honor at Giants Stadium. After his playing career ended in 1974, Peter was a long-time sales executive with the financial printing firm RR Donnelly. 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.
Even though he revolutionized field goal kicking, he did not earn a great deal of money in pro football. In his first contract with the Giants, he was paid $35,000 a year, while Graham Gano, the current Giants kicker, makes $5.5 million.
Peter said several times that he is very concerned with the direction of this country and the threats being posed to our freedom. He said that we are so lucky to live in America and in a free country. As someone who experienced the deprivation and sacrifices that were experienced by those who were forced to live under communism, he has a deep appreciation for the value of living in a free society. In America, we have some degree of control over our lives and a broad array of opportunities we can pursue. We do not want to lose this wonderful gift.
To see the full presentation, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, cursor to “Speakers” and click on “Speaker Videos.”
The RMA’s upcoming presentation, “Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives,” by Stephen Roach is scheduled for 11 AM on Wednesday, January 25. In the short span of five years, America and China have entered a trade war, a tech war, and a new Cold War. According to Roach, this conflict between the world’s two most powerful nations wouldn’t have happened were it not for an unnecessary clash of false narratives embraced by both nations. America falsely blames its trade and technology threats on China yet overlooks its shaky foundation of low personal savings (high consumer debt). China falsely blames its growth challenges on America’s alleged containment of market-based socialism, ignoring its failed economic rebalancing.
In Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives, Stephen Roach offers a clear-eyed analysis of superpower collision over their economies, policies, and politics. He argues that much of the rhetoric on both sides is dangerously misguided, amplified by information distortion, and more a reflection of each nation’s fears and vulnerabilities than a credible assessment of the risks they face. The book concludes with a creative plan for conflict resolution that offers a new road map to a healthier Sino-American relationship. Stephen Roach is a senior fellow at the Paul Tsai China Center of the Yale Law School and a former Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. He has written for The Financial Times, Fortune, Project Syndicate and more, and appeared widely on CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN, NPR, and other media outlets.
To stream Mr. Roach’s presentation at 11 AM on Wednesday, January 25, click here (https://bit.ly/30IBj21). This presentation will also be available on local public access TV Channels, Verizon FIOS channel 24 and Optimum (Cablevision) channel 79.
Note: The views expressed in these presentations are those of the speakers. They are not intended to represent the views of the RMA or its members.
RMA speaker presentations are presented as a community service at no cost to in-person or Zoom attendees, regardless of gender. The RMA urges all eligible individuals to consider becoming a member of our great organization, and thereby enjoy all the available fellowship, volunteer, and community service opportunities which the RMA offers to its members. For further information, go to https://greenwichrma.org/, or contact our membership chairman (mailto:members@greenwichrma.org).
