Stan Gelbaugh Stanley Morris Gelbaugh ( born December 4 , 1962 ) is a former professional American football quarterback . Although he played several seasons in the National Football League , he attained his greatest success in the World League of American Football with the London Monarchs , where he was the league ' s Offensive Most Valuable Player in its inaugural season . College career . Gelbaugh attended the University of Maryland , and was 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 , 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 cited as one of the greatest comebacks 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 . 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 career second overall in team history in yardage and third in completions ; his senior year yardage total of 2 , 475 was a team record ( now since broken ) . He was also the first Terrapins quarterback with three career 300 - yard games . Professional career . Struggles in Buffalo . He was selected in the sixth round ( 150th overall ) of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys . However , he was waived by the team before the season started . After being released by Dallas , he briefly became a punter for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League . He punted 45 times for a 40 . 6 yard average ; he also served as a backup quarterback , though he did not throw a pass . He was waived by the team after two months . He signed with the Buffalo Bills in November 1986 , and served as the backup the rest of the year . He was injured 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 . 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 . 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 photocopier s and fax machine s 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 . Success in Europe . In the spring of 1990 , the National Football League began setting 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 . In the first game of the new league , Gelbaugh and fellow Monarchs quarterback John Witkowski led the Monarchs to victory over the Frankfurt Galaxy . Gelbaugh ' s 96 - yard touchdown to Jon Horton was the league ' s first passing touchdown . In week 2 , he took over the starting job full - time , and led the Monarchs to a comeback victory against the New York / New Jersey Knights in the Monarchs ' home opener , the first of three straight 300 - yard games for Gelbaugh . In Week 5 , he threw for four touchdowns and 286 yards as the Monarchs beat the Montreal Machine 45 - 7 . The following week , he led the Monarchs over the Raleigh - Durham Skyhawks with 361 yards and three touchdowns . After getting knocked out of a game against the Knights with a bruised shoulder in week 8 , he returned the following game to throw for 325 yards and a touchdown in a victory over the Sacramento Surge . Gelbaugh credited much of his success to his offensive line , nicknamed the " Nasty Boyz " , who allowed the fewest sacks in the league . The Monarchs finished the regular season with a loss to the Barcelona Dragons , 20 - 17 ; the loss would end up being the only one of the year . 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 inaugural World Bowl . 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 . He finished the season atop several passing categories ; his 2 , 655 yards , 92 . 8 passer rating , and . 624 completion percentage were best in the league , and he was tied for the lead in touchdown passes ( 17 ) . For his efforts , he was named Offensive Most Valuable Player of the league , earning him a $ 25 , 000 bonus . Phoenix Cardinals . 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 . In the end , the WLAF waived the fee , leaving Gelbaugh free to sign with any team . Although he was interested in joining the San Diego Chargers , he signed with the Hamilton Tiger - Cats of the CFL as a member of their practice squad . The two sides could not come to an agreement , and Gelbaugh walked away after two weeks . Later on , he was signed by the Phoenix Cardinals , who were having quarterback trouble after starter Timm Rosenbach was injured for the season , and backup Tom Tupa was underperforming . After appearances in two games against Minnesota and the New York Giants , he earned his first start in a 14 - 10 loss to San Francisco in Week 12 . A week later , he was picked off four times by the Philadelphia Eagles , and the next week he was pulled in favor of Chris Chandler after blowing a lead against the Washington Redskins . Gelbaugh played one more time in the season finale against New Orleans after Chandler was intercepted twice ; Gelbaugh threw three interceptions in a Cardinals loss . 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 . Before his return , he was signed by the Seattle Seahawks , who picked him up as a Plan B free agent . He signed with Seattle because the Seahawks ' offensive coordinator , Larry Kennan , was his coach with the Monarchs . Return to London . 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 . Unfortunately , under new head coach Ray Willsey the Monarchs would go on a seven game winless streak . 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 . Gelbaugh ' s 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 . 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 . Seattle Seahawks : 1992 – 1996 . Gelbaugh joined the Seahawks for the 1992 season , planning to be the third - string quarterback behind Dan McGwire and Kelly Stouffer . His first appearance came in relief of McGwire in week 7 against the Dallas Cowboys , but he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown , and the Seahawks lost 27 - 0 . With McGwire on injured reserve and Stouffer injured , Gelbaugh got the start the following week against the Los Angeles Raiders , but the Seahawks were shut out for the second consecutive week . He started the next two games , both Seahawks losses , while waiting for Stouffer to return from his shoulder injury . Gelbaugh ' s next action would come in relief of Stouffer against the Denver Broncos , and he would lead the team to an improbable comeback on " Monday Night Football " , throwing a game - tying touchdown on the final play of regulation . The Seahawks would win the game in overtime on John Kasay ' s 32 - yard game winner ; Gelbaugh finished the evening with 164 yards and a touchdown in less than a full quarter ' s work . 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 . Although Gelbaugh was resigned for the 1993 season , his only appearance came in relief of injured starter Rick Mirer in the fourth quarter of a game against the New England Patriots . He then spent two years on the bench , only making a brief appearance in the 1994 season finale . 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 . Gelbaugh retired after the 1996 season . Personal life . Gelbaugh ' s nickname while playing was " Blueprint " , due to his knowledge of many different offenses . After retiring from football , Gelbaugh took on the role of offensive coordinator at The Bullis School , where his son attended . He works full - time in sales for a construction company in the D . C . area .