Impact Of A Scholarship: Stan Gelbaugh

Stan Gelbaugh’s father, Dallas Gelbaugh, once uttered the phrase, “If you start, you don’t quit.” Stan was a young teenager at the time, but he applied that expression to his life, including his decade-long professional football career.  

Gelbaugh also exemplified his father’s words during his time as a quarterback for Maryland football from 1981-85. He manifested his successful career as a Terp with a relentless dedication to improving his craft and placing his team's success above all else. The Terps reached new heights as a result, winning three consecutive ACC championships (1983, 1984 and 1985) and wins in the 1984 Sun Bowl and 1985 Cherry Bowl. The stretch is often regarded as the best in Maryland football program history. 

However, Gelbaugh acknowledges that none of his personal and team success would’ve been possible without a scholarship.

“I think anyone in that position at that time was extremely grateful,” Gelbaugh said. “When you come into that situation, many guys like myself would have had to figure out how to pay for college. My parents couldn't just write a check for tuition, room and board and everything to send me to college.”

He continued, “It would have been much tougher than going there on scholarship, doing something you love and having your school covered. It was an awesome opportunity for me and my parents, and it just made going to college a whole lot more doable for myself and a lot of my teammates.”

Gelbaugh, the oldest of four children, grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, attending Cumberland Valley High School. He ultimately chose to further his education at the University of Maryland but almost landed at NC State. 

The quarterback visited NC State with his eventual college roommate at Maryland, Scott Shankweiler, a fellow quarterback who later moved to linebacker. Gelbaugh fell in love with the school. But for the first and only time, his father interjected himself into his son’s athletic career. Dallas persuaded Stan to attend a school closer to home so he and the rest of his family could watch him play. Stan chose Maryland. 

Gelbaugh was one of eight quarterbacks on the Terps’ roster on his first day of practice. He was also last on the depth chart in a quarterback room that featured Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich and Bob Milkovich. But by the second regular season game in 1981, Gelbaugh was the backup to Esiason as Reich redshirted. 

Gelbaugh spent his first two and a half years as a punter and a backup to Esiason and Reich. Reich then went down with a shoulder injury in week four of the 1984 season, and Gelbaugh briefly took over the starting role. He set a school record with 48 pass attempts while throwing for over 300 yards in his first start on Oct. 6 against Penn State. The Terps suffered a narrow loss in that game, but Gelbaugh and the Terps avenged it with three straight victories.

Gelbaugh’s success in filling in for Reich earned him the starting job for a team ranked No. 1 in the AP poll entering the 1985 season. He finished passing for 2,475 yards that season, breaking Esiason's single-season record set two seasons prior. He also broke the school record for passing yards in a game with 361 yards against Clemson. Gelbaugh regards that performance as the best of his Maryland career. 

The quick-thinking quarterback with a rocket arm even led the ACC in total offense with 216.8 yards per game and ranked second in passing efficiency. The Terps finished 9-3 with a 6-0 record in the ACC, giving them their third consecutive conference title. The season ended with a victory over Syracuse in the Cherry Bowl, where Gelbaugh passed for 223 yards and two touchdowns and added another rushing score. Gelbaugh was named offensive MVP of the game.

Shankweiler, Gelbaugh’s roommate, was named defensive MVP. Gelbaugh considers that game, his last at the collegiate level, one of the biggest highlights of his time at Maryland. He also enjoyed being part of some of the most successful years in Maryland football history.  

“If you just look at the school and the history, it is the best run Maryland had because we won three straight ACC titles and went to four bowl games. I don't think many other teams in school history did that. … It was a great time to play for Maryland football. … We dominated the ACC on offense for the next foreseeable years. Especially at the quarterback level, we had not a good run, but an unbelievable run of quarterbacks.”

Gelbaugh finished his college career second overall in school history in passing yards and third in completions. He boasted a 13-4 record in the games he started and became the first Terrapins quarterback with three career 300-yard passing games. Gelbaugh was rewarded for his success by being selected in the sixth round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.

Overall, the quarterback was a part of nine different franchises in his career. Gelbaugh played for the Buffalo Bills (1986-89), where he reunited with Reich and Shankweiler, Cincinnati Bengals (1990), Kansas City Chiefs (1991), Phoenix Cardinals (1991) and Seattle Seahawks (1992-96) in the NFL. He also played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders (1986) in the Canadian Football League (CFL). 

But his best year of football came in 1991 with the World League of American Football’s (WLAF) London Monarchs. The WLAF was a developmental league for players, with several European teams created by the NFL.

Gelbaugh started the season as the backup quarterback but played the second half of his team’s first game. He threw a 96-yard touchdown in that game, the league's first passing touchdown. He then took over the starting job full-time and went on to win offensive MVP of the league. 

Gelbaugh earned the nickname “blueprint” because he adjusted quickly to the Monarchs’ offense. He says he mastered the offense after two practices, and his teammates and coaches were in awe. The Monarchs ran a variation of Ernie Zampese’s San Diego Chargers offense, regarded as the first West Coast offense. 

It was a similar offense to the one Gelbaugh ran at Maryland under head coaches Bobby Ross and Jerry Claiborne. It was also comparable to the Bills’ run-and-gun offense, later nicknamed K-Gun, popularized by Marv Levy. Gelbaugh had been involved in similar offenses for eight years before flying to London. 

“I never told them,” Gelbaugh said. “They thought I had a photographic memory or something. … I came into camp with them two weeks late. I sit in two practices, one at night, one the next morning, and I know the offense better than anybody else.”

Gelbaugh finished his career with the Seahawks, primarily as a backup for five seasons. But in 1992, he appeared in 10 games, including a 16-13 overtime week 13 win over the Denver Broncos, who were first in the AFC West on Monday Night Football. The game was the last Monday Night Football game played in the Kingdome and the last in Seattle until 2002. 

Gelbaugh entered the game with about nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, and Seattle trailed 13-3. He led three scoring drives, including one that resulted in a field goal in overtime to secure the win. The Seahawks won despite finishing the season with their worst record in franchise history.

“I retired after a very long career. I was literally the oldest guy in the locker room,” Gelbaugh said. “It was really an amazing run. It wasn't smooth. … I was cut probably half a dozen times and released by every team I ever played for except for Phoenix, the London Monarchs and Seattle. But it was an experience. I think it made me tougher mentally.”

Gelbaugh says attending Maryland and graduating with a business degree opened up almost every opportunity for him after his football career. He’s currently the senior vice president of Kalmia Construction, an interior design firm in Maryland. 

“It was 100% responsible for every job I've ever had,” Gelbaugh said. “I have not worked for anyone who either didn't play for Maryland or was a Maryland fan and played elsewhere. … I literally haven't worked for anybody that doesn't have a connection to Maryland football.”

Gelbaugh, 61, resides in Maryland with his wife, Denise. He has two children and three stepsons. He met his wife of 15 years at Maryland, and the school remains a big part of his family. All three of his stepsons graduated from the University of Maryland, and Denise served nearly a decade on the Terrapin Club board. 

Stan’s father, Dallas, passed away about a year ago. However, Stan is often reminded of what he said to him as a teenager. 

“I don't know of any Terp that has had a longer career with more stops than I had,” Gelbaugh said. “It goes back to ole Dallas Gelbaugh saying, ‘If you start, you can't quit.’ That stuck with me.”