Peter Hadhazy – 1944-2006

Ohio Glory General Manager Peter Hadhazy was snakebitten on both ends of his brief time with the team. He was named GM with less than four months to put a team together from scratch. Then, the National Football League decided to suspend operations on the World League of American Football – not allowing Hadhazy another season to continue the building process.

There is little doubt that if given the time, Ohio Glory General Manager Peter Hadhazy would have turned the 1992 expansion team into a winner.

But time was one thing Hadhazy, unfortunately, didn’t have in Columbus.

Named the Glory’s GM less than four months until the team’s first game, Hadhazy had precious little time to hire staff and coaches, and acquire players. He also couldn’t use his expertise from his extensive time in the National Football League, including as GM of the Cleveland Browns in the late 1970s, since he only could sign players under contract to the World League of American Football.

Despite those obstacles – and only having the chance to build the Glory for one season before the National Football League suspended the WLAF in favor of an all-European circuit beginning in 1995 – Hadhazy left a lasting impression on those around him in the organization.

·         Glory Head Coach Larry Little – “I couldn’t work for a better General Manager. Peter was a great communicator, he understood the game of football...and he was a competitor.

"Peter was a great guy as far as knowing entertainment and knowing how to get people in the stands. And I miss him so much, because we had kept in contact. Every time Peter would be in Naples, he would contact me. One time, I met him and we laughed and talked about the team.”

·         Glory Assistant to the General Manager Chris Wolfington – "It wasn't like an NFL team where it was a free market to be able to choose your players. All the players were employed by the league, so it was much more regulated. We weren't in a position to take advantage of Peter's background as much as if it were structured like the NFL. The deck was kind of already dealt a little bit. It was up to the coaching staff to make the most of what they had in terms of players.

“If Peter were in the NFL, he would have been wheeling and dealing with whoever he could find to put together the best players."

·         Glory Special Projects and Game Day Coordinator John Lombardi – “Peter Hadhazy was probably the best person I ever worked for in my life. I learned a lot from him. The tendency for a lot of people would be to micro-manage, but he trusted us and supported us. He made it fun. He didn't do it for us."

·         Glory Director of Merchandising and Novelty Booth Sales Don Patko – "He was a heck of a leader. He listened. He had the experience from his past positions. He had the ability to evaluate to make a final decision. Obviously, we ran a lot of things through Peter. He always would look for a positive."

1993 optimism turns to black with WLAF suspension

Quarterback Greg Frey (14) was expected to be the Ohio Glory’s starting quarterback for the 1993 World League of American Football season, but that was a season that never came. The National Football League decided to suspend WLAF operations in September of 1992, then brought the league back in an all-European format beginning in 1995.

In the immediate aftermath of the 1992 season, the Ohio Glory had plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

The team finished its first season in the World League of American Football at 1-9 (including six losses to the league’s four playoff teams), but, after an 0-6 start in which the average loss was 13 points, there finally was a home win against Frankfurt, a home overtime loss against New York-New Jersey, a seven-sack effort at Sacramento and a tough three-point home loss to Birmingham.

In addition, the Glory finally had found its quarterback for the future in former Ohio State standout Greg Frey, who had more touchdown passes (three) than times sacked (two) in the final six quarters of the season.

Glory General Manager Peter Hadhazy said shortly after the season concluded, “I guess 1-9 teams deserve to get lucky every once in a while. We’ve got something to build on for the future.”

Frey was with the Glory for the second half of 1992, but only after third-string quarterback Chris Cochrane was summoned by Frankfurt due to injury – and after Frey’s agent tried to get the ex-Buckeye into camp earlier in the year. The team had grappled with possibly going after former OSU quarterback Art Schlichter before the 1992 WLAF draft, and, as would have been the case with Schlichter, the team didn’t want the pressure to play the hometown favorite Frey.

“We thought we were set at the quarterback position,” Hadhazy said at the time. “If we were going to bring Frey in just because he’s a local guy to be a backup or not to play, it wouldn’t have been fair to us or the Ohio fans who wanted to see him.

“If the season started today, there’s no question we’d win more games than we lost.”

Even with the quarterback problems the team had in 1992, the Glory realistically could have won four games. A different decision in the final minute at Orlando in the opener could have resulted in a win, and the New York-New Jersey and Birmingham home games were close to going the other direction.

Given the Glory’s second-half play, and with Frey in the fold and slated to start from the outset, 1993 was looking bright for the franchise.

“With a little tinkering, no major overhaul, I think we can reverse that record,” Hadhazy said then.

Unfortunately, Hadhazy and Glory Head Coach Larry Little never had that chance. In September of 1992, the National Football League’s owners voted to suspend the WLAF due to the NFL’s recent loss of a major antitrust suit with the NFL’s players.

Hadhazy reacted to the news at the time with disappointment, noting, “Two days before the NFL announcement, we sent applications to our season ticket holders to re-up. The response was unbelievable. We could have doubled our attendance.

“The frustrating part of this is not being able to turn around that record.”

Two decades later, the disappointment of not being able to improve on the 1992 season still was real.

“Crushing. Absolutely crushing,” said Ken Einhorn, the Glory’s Director of Public Relations. “It was very disappointing. It’s something you take a little personal. I wish it would have lasted longer. It just never caught on.”

Said John Lombardi, the team’s Special Projects and Gameday Coordinator, “It was really disappointing. I would have loved to have another chance to play. I understand why they did it. It was a business decision, so I can’t argue against them, but it would have been nice to have another shot.”

Reportedly, the move to suspend the WLAF saved every NFL team a half-million dollars per year. Ultimately, the league returned in the spring of 1995 – and in a European-only format.

So what might the 1993 version of the Ohio Glory have looked like?

At the end of the 1992 season, the Glory had 43 players on the roster – 36 active and 7 on injured reserve. If the WLAF used the same method of protecting players as it did the year before (allowing 26 per team), here’s what that group may have looked like:

NAME                                              POS.

Greg Frey                                                        QB

Lydell Carr                                                      FB

Deval Glover                                                   WR

Patrick Jackson                                               WR

Phil Logan                                                      WR

Melvin Patterson                                             WR

Curtis Wilson                                                    C

Eric Harmon                                                     G

Curt Mull                                                         G

Ken Vines                                                       G-C

Mike Graybill                                                   T

Ben Jefferson                                                    T

Chad Rolen                                                     DE

Mike Sunvold                                                  DE

Charles Jackson                                               DT

Kent Wells                                                       DT

Stacy Harvey                                                    LB

A.J. Jimerson                                                  LB

Kerry Owens                                                     LB

Aaron Ruffin                                                    CB

Jason Wallace                                                 CB

Darren Hughes                                                CB-S

African Grant                                                    S

Tim James                                                        S

Darren Willis                                                    S

Tom Rouen                                                       P

In 1993, the Glory would have had a nucleus to work with – something the team didn’t have to begin 1992. It also would have the benefit of another draft (featuring unprotected 1992 WLAF players and other free agents) and another NFL allocation (which may have included 1992 running backs Amir Rasul and Adam Walker and 1992 wide receiver Walter Wilson).

Right after the season, Little said he wanted to bring back fullback George Swarn, who was in camp with the team in 1992 and had been on injured reserve before the team released him.

Frey shines, special teams falters in final Glory ‘L’

Ohio Glory quarterback Greg Frey, making his first professional start in the place he played his college football, nearly led the Glory to its second win of the season. In Ohio’s 1992 season finale against the Birmingham Fire, Frey was 20-for-35 for 288 yards and two touchdowns, he wasn’t sacked and he added a third touchdown rushing.

In the end, there really was no other way to go out.

Even in finally finding its quarterback, former Ohio State standout Greg Frey, in the 1992 season finale, the Ohio Glory found one more way to lose a game – a last-minute interception by a defensive lineman.

Ohio lost to the playoff-bound Birmingham Fire, 27-24, in Week 10 at Ohio Stadium, and the game was decided when Frey’s only interception of the game was grabbed by Fire defensive lineman Tony Bowick.

“How many times do you see a defensive lineman intercept a ball downfield,” asked Glory Head Coach Larry Little after the game. “That’s just the style of our year, anything can happen and it happened this year.”

Ohio got on the board just 2:12 into the game when Frey found tight end Randy Bethel for an 8-yard touchdown pass. After Birmingham scored on a pair of first-quarter touchdowns just 1:20 apart, Ohio kicker Jerry Kauric nailed a 42-yard field goal to make it a 14-10 game after 15 minutes.

Just 5:17 into the second quarter, Frey used a flea-flicker to hit wide receiver Phil Logan for a 51-yard touchdown pass to give the Glory a 17-14 advantage. Birmingham tied the game later in the second with a field goal, but then Frey engineered an 11-play, 87-yard drive which culminated in his 1-yard touchdown run with three seconds left until halftime.

The two teams were scoreless in the third quarter, then Birmingham re-tied the game just four seconds into the fourth quarter on another touchdown run.

And, of course, late in the game, Ohio’s season-long special teams blunders reared their ugly head at the worst time. With less than four minutes left in the game, Glory punter Tom Rouen took a 12-yard loss when he thought a potential punt would be blocked after a missed blocking assignment.

After the game, Rouen said, “If it’s blocked, the other team gets a touchdown. If you eat it, it gives the defense a chance to hold them. Those are things that go through your mind.”

That led to what would turn out to be the Fire’s game-winning field goal with 1:56 to go.

In addition to that turnover on downs and the final interception, Ohio’s two fumbles (one on special teams) led to 10 Birmingham points, and Kauric had a 19-yard field goal blocked and he missed a 43-yarder wide left.

As for Frey, his first start at Ohio Stadium since November 24, 1990, against Michigan, was a rousing success. He was 20-for-35 for 288 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, while running for a third score. He was not sacked.

“Greg played an outstanding game,” Little said afterward. “Greg showed a lot of poise. He’s going to be an outstanding quarterback for the Ohio Glory.”

The problem was, Frey - and everyone else associated with the team – never had another chance to attempt to achieve Glory…

Loss at Surge highlighted by start of Frey era

The Ohio Glory’s next-to-last game of the 1992 World League of American Football season also was its last road game of the season. In a rematch against the eventual World Bowl-champion Sacramento Surge, the Glory lost 21-7, burned by David Archer touchdown passes of 45, 59 and 74 yards.

Following a thrilling last-second win and a perhaps-as-equally-thrilling overtime loss in consecutive home games, the Ohio Glory took to the road for its final game away from Ohio Stadium for the 1992 season.

The problem for the Glory was the opponent – the Sacramento Surge. The eventual World Bowl champion still was in a fight for the North American West division title, and the Surge had beaten Ohio in Week 2.

The result was a 21-7 loss which put the Glory’s record at 1-8, but there were some bright spots.

First and foremost, the Glory started the process of finding its future quarterback. Former Ohio State quarterback Greg Frey played the second half for an injured Babe Laufenberg (concussion) and was 11-for-26 for 164 yards and a touchdown, an 18-yard strike to wideout Walter Wilson in the final quarter.

Also, the Ohio defense got after veteran Sacramento quarterback David Archer to the tune of seven sacks. Linebacker A.J. Jimerson led the way with 2½ sacks, and linebacker George Koonce (1½), defensive tackles Kent Wells (one) and Charles Jackson (one) and defensive end Chad Rolen (one) all got into the act.

Archer, however, stood upright long enough to go 20-for-40 for 360 yards and long touchdown passes of 45, 59 and 74 yards. Surge wide receiver Eddie Brown caught eight passes for a league-record-tying 196 yards and two of those TDs, and earned WLAF co-Offensive Player of the Week honors for Week 9.

Despite Frey’s second-half success, the Glory couldn’t duplicate its offensive prowess of recent weeks. Ohio gained just 196 total yards, turned the ball over twice and Laufenberg and Frey were sacked nine times. Ohio’s offense was hindered by both starting tackles – Mike Graybill (left) and Ben Jefferson (right) – going out with injuries by the second quarter.

The win was Sacramento’s fourth in a row – the second week in a row a Glory loss resulted in the opponent’s winning streak reaching four games.

There was one game left in the season, a home game against eventual two-time playoff-qualifier Birmingham. But with the potential of Frey getting the starting nod in Ohio Stadium once again, the Glory might have the chance to see how much brighter the days ahead could be.

OT loss dims Glory’s late, furious comeback

Ohio Glory quarterback Pat O’Hara (6) was headed for a day to remember at home against the New York-New Jersey Knights. O’Hara set a World League of American Football record with a 99-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Melvin Patterson in the first quarter, and was 8-for-17 for 182 yards with a touchdown and an interception before being lost for the season with a slight separation of his right (throwing) shoulder late in the first half.

The Ohio Glory came into its Week 8 game at home against the New York-New Jersey Knights with an unfamiliar feeling – that of winning the week before.

The Knights were coming into town riding a three-game winning streak after starting 1992 at 0-4. The matchup had the potential to be a fun one. No one, however, saw what happened on a sunny 70-degree May day in Columbus, Ohio, coming.

New York-New Jersey won in overtime, 39-33, but how the Knights got to their fourth straight victory was memorable:

·         Ohio quarterback Pat O’Hara started the scoring with a World League of American Football League-record 99-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Melvin Patterson just 5:04 into the game.

·         After the Knights scored back-to-back touchdowns to go ahead 14-7, the Glory responded with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Amir Rasul. Ohio’s first two scoring drives covered 99 and 94 yards.

·         New York-New Jersey took a 27-14 lead into halftime following two more touchdowns (and a botched extra point). Following a 23-yard Jerry Kauric field goal to cap off a 64-yard drive, the Knights scored again (without the PAT again) early in the fourth quarter to go ahead 33-17.

·         It was at that point that Ohio began its furious comeback. In the span of 6:10, the Glory scored on a 3-yard fumble return by cornerback Aaron Ruffin (the two-point pass failed), a 15-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Babe Laufenberg to wide receiver Phil Logan and, finally, a 22-yard Kauric field goal with 1:17 left in regulation to send the game in overtime. That field goal came one play after wide receiver Walter Wilson dropped a potential winning touchdown catch.

·         The euphoria of the comeback, however, was short-lived. Laufenberg was intercepted by Knights nickel cornerback Joe Johnson, who raced 41 yards for the decisive touchdown just 2:23 (and four plays) into the extra period.

The two teams combined for 989 yards of offense, 72 points, 48 first downs, eight turnovers, eight sacks and 17 penalties.

O’Hara suffered a slight separation of his right (throwing) shoulder late in the first half, and was lost for the remainder of the season.

Kauric, Glory finally get off schneid with 20-17 win

Ohio Glory wide receiver Deval Glover (86) is congratulated by fellow wideout Phil Logan (83) during the team's first-ever win, a 20-17 decision against the Frankfurt Galaxy at Ohio Stadium.

On May 2, 1992, the Ohio Glory won its first-ever game, a 20-17 decision over the Frankfurt Galaxy at Ohio Stadium.

It is remarkable that there are so many different angles to the game to cover. But, as has been stated many times already, the Glory wasn’t your run-of-the-mill expansion team.

·         There was yet another change to the coaching staff. In the week leading up to the game against the Galaxy, assistant head coach/defensive line coach Wally Chambers resigned due what was reported to be continued legal and financial problems in Philadelphia concerning his four-year-old son, Wally II.

Chambers’ replacement was Claude Humphrey, who was the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks’ defensive line coach in 1991 and was helping coach Team Dallas, the World League of American Football’s league-wide taxi squad, to that point in 1992.

·         The game kicked off shortly after 8 p.m., marking just the second time in venerable Ohio Stadium’s history that a night game was played there.

The other time was a good omen for the home team, too – Ohio State defeated Pittsburgh, 10-7, on September 14, 1985.

·         There would be a pregame concert by The Beach Boys, and fireworks at halftime.

The concert was of no concern for Ohio Glory Head Coach Larry Little, and he said he isn’t a fan of the storied group, but he added, “If they can help us win, I will be.”

·         The Galaxy’s starting quarterback would be Chris Cochrane, who spent the first four weeks of the season as the Glory’s practice QB. He was claimed by Frankfurt on April 17 when injuries began to decimate the Galaxy’s group of pivots - a group that included second-year starter Mike Perez, who missed the last six games of the 1992 season due to a partial rotator cuff tear.

There wasn’t much reason to think a game between teams with a six-game losing streak (Ohio) and a four-game losing streak (Frankfurt) would be very entertaining.

The opposite, actually, was true.

A crowd of 41,853 fans saw the Glory take its first lead since the early 6-0 home lead against Sacramento in Week 2 when quarterback Pat O’Hara found newly-activated wide receiver Deval Glover on a 5-yard touchdown pass just 6:31 into the game.

The Galaxy countered late in the first quarter when running back Tony “The Touchdown Maker” Baker scored on a 9-yard TD pass from Cochrane.

Ohio took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter when cornerback Aaron Ruffin picked off Cochrane and needed just 10 yards for a touchdown. The score stayed that way until early in the third quarter, when Cochrane hit tight end Chad Fortune for a 38-yard touchdown pass to the game at 14.

The fourth quarter became a contest of field goals between Ohio’s embattled Jerry Kauric and Frankfurt’s Robbie Keen. Kauric, the former Canadian Football League and Cleveland Browns kicker who was just 2-for-6 on field goals and 0-for-1 on extra points in the season’s first six weeks, hit a 24-yarder with 4:57 to go to put the Glory ahead 17-14.

Keen, however, connected on a 45-yard field goal with just 44 seconds left in regulation to re-knot the game at 17. But Kauric got a shot at redemption for his season-long struggles (which included a missed field goal during the fourth quarter) when he lined up for a 46-yard field goal that would leave no time remaining once the play was over.

Kauric nailed the kick, ending a season’s worth of frustration for himself and his teammates.

“Thank God that last kick went through,” Kauric said after the game. “It had just enough to scrape through.”

Said Little after the game, “I figured he would kick himself out of it, and tonight, he did.”

The game-winning field goal was set up by a 15-yard personal foul penalty after Galaxy linebacker Kevin Wolfolk hit O’Hara in the head.

Glover, who suffered a stress fracture in his foot in the final scrimmage of training camp and was slated to be a starter for the Glory, caught nine passes for 90 yards and a score in his first game of the season. O’Hara was 28-for-48 for 206 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

In addition, Glory punter Tom Rouen set a new WLAF record in the victory by placing a whopping six punts inside the 20-yard line.

Ohio withstood Cochrane’s 320 passing yards in a 27-for-39 effort. He threw two touchdowns and two interceptions. Baker racked up 10 catches for 111 yards and a TD to go with 32 yards on nine carries.

The Glory defense, which had stood tall for most of the season to that point, gave up 401 yards to the Galaxy, but took the ball away five times and had a pair of sacks.

Ohio did a much better job of limiting its mistakes against Frankfurt, turning the ball over just once and committing just one 11-yard penalty.

“I felt good about our chances all week,” Little said following the victory. “Finally winning a football game, it’s a great feeling that words can’t express.”

The win was especially sweet for two members of the Glory. Backup defensive tackle Anthony Butts and Director of Public Relations Ken Einhorn each had suffered through the Skyhawks’ 0-10 season in 1991, and hasn’t won a game in 1992 until Kauric’s game-winner went through the uprights.

“I needed this so bad,” Butts said after the game. “I was on the verge of being 0-17. This cigar (received in Raleigh-Durham) here is a year-and-a-half old, and it still tastes good.”

Twenty years later, Einhorn said of the victory, "There were certain people who recognized that this was my first win after however many games it was, and I remember Larry Little saying something about that in the locker room. It was a very classy thing to do.

"Each week, we had a conference call with all the PR directors around the league. I remember the week after we won, Bob Rose and Vince Casey from the league office, and all the other guys were like, 'Congratulations.' “

Many members of the Glory still recall the win fondly – and some with information perhaps not previously known.

Little: "I was getting ready to cut him (Kauric) the next week and bring in another kicker, and he won that game. I will never forget the picture of me and Kenny (Einhorn) hugging each other."

Chris Wolfington, Assistant to the General Manager: “I remember that day as just being an awesome sense of accomplishment that the work had paid off. Even if that hadn't been the only win, it was an exciting game. We were thrilled. We had a big celebration that night."

Randy Bethel, tight end: “It was a great feeling, like this is the way we are supposed to play.”

The Glory finally had a number other than zero in the win column. Now, the team had the opportunity to go after another franchise first – a winning streak.

Turnover-plagued Glory falls to 0-6 at Barcelona

Ohio Glory running back Adam Walker, in addition to being a straight-ahead kickoff returner and third-down back, was one of the team's top special teamers. He blocked a punt in Week 6 at the Barcelona Dragons which resulted in a safety in the Glory's 20-10 loss.

A stout defense can only do so much.

If there was one shining bright spot for the Ohio Glory in its first six games, it was its defense. And that defense continued to keep the Glory in games it had no business being in – such as the Week 6 contest at the Barcelona Dragons.

The Glory offense didn’t score a point until early in the fourth quarter, when the team already was down 20-2 thanks to a touchdown run, a blocked punt returned for a score and two field goals. Ohio also turned the ball over six times, including five interceptions thrown by quarterback Pat O’Hara.

But the Glory “D” continued to shine despite being put in less-than-favorable positions. Barcelona gained just 192 yards (and just 100 yards minus the 92-yard scoring drive to open the scoring early in the second quarter), and the Ohio defense forced three turnovers and recorded five sacks.

In the first six games of the season, the Glory defense didn’t put up numbers indicative of a winless team – 275 yards allowed per game, 12 sacks, 11 takeaways and just 11 touchdowns allowed.

O’Hara was 28-for-55 for 327 yards and a late 55-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Melvin Patterson despite the five picks – three of which went to Dragons cornerback Adrian Jones.

The Glory, also, of course, was a victim of bad luck on special teams. Down 14-0 late in the first half, Ohio scored a safety after running back Adam Walker blocked a Dragons punt. It could have been the touchdown which got the Glory back in the game, but the Dragons’ end zones at Montjuic Stadium were not the regulation 10 yards, so Ohio had to settle for 2 points, not 7.

Also, on the next possession following the O’Hara-to-Patterson touchdown pass, a high snap on a field goal attempt kept the Glory from making it a 20-13 contest.

After the game, Ohio Head Coach Larry Little said, “We are not going to give up in these last four games, you can count on that. We realize that we can’t play .500 football this year, but we can still win and salvage something out of the season.”

The Glory ended up doing just that.

Glory suffers shutout in storm-filled game at Riders

Ohio Glory Head Coach Larry Little couldn’t keep mistakes from continuing to pile up on his team, as six turnovers, eight penalties and just 129 yards of total offense all contributed to a 17-0 road loss against the San Antonio Riders. Ohio finished the first half of the 1992 season at 0-5.

The 0-4 Ohio Glory wasn’t likely to find the sledding any easier in Week 5, as it was traveling to play the San Antonio Riders, the co-leaders in the North American West division.

When looking at the final score – 17-0 – it might seem as if the Glory played a decent game, but simply continued to have trouble offensively.

As was the case with the Glory, it wasn’t that simple.

A little more than six minutes into the game, Glory quarterback Pat O’Hara threw a 53-yard “pick-six” to Riders cornerback Gary Richard. What made this particular interception noteworthy was O’Hara was on his back at the time.

O’Hara had fallen after being stepped on by center Curtis Wilson and was on his back, but still chose to throw the ball in the field of play, rather than throw it away or simply take the loss.

"I fell down, but still thought I could make the pass even from where I was sitting," O'Hara said following the game. "It was a horrible mistake on my part, but one I'll have to live with it."

Twenty years later, Glory Head Coach Larry Little recalled the play this way, "I didn't know what to think. I just asked him, 'Why?’ ”

O’Hara’s second and final interception of the day came when the ball bounced off a Glory player’s helmet.

Backup quarterback Babe Laufenberg also threw two interceptions, and two Glory lost fumbles rounded out the team’s six turnovers.

Ohio’s defense, easily the team’s bright spot in the first half of the season, held San Antonio to one offensive touchdown and one field goal despite all of the Glory offense’s foibles. The Glory “D” also kept the score from being much, much worse by getting multiple key takeaways inside of its own 7-yard line.

While the Glory defense was doing its best to keep the game competitive while being on the field for nearly 41 minutes, just 129 total yards of offense, the six turnovers and eight penalties kept Ohio from getting any traction.

The game was stopped for 23 minutes late in the second quarter due to a hailstorm, and much of the first half was contested in a driving rainstorm.

The Glory finished the first half of its expansion season at 0-5. If it was going to avoid the same completely winless fate of its predecessor, the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, it was going to have to improve in a hurry.

Luckily, it did.