Hall of Fame
At 6-6, 274 pounds it’s hard to fathom that future All-American lineman Stan Eisenhooth went unnoticed by college recruiters until he was introduced to the Towson staff by his junior college roommate who had put in the good word for his friend.
“Like a lot of other Pennsylvania guys I wanted to go to Penn State,” says Stan who attended Bald Eagle High School in Centre County, Pa. “You don’t get a lot of looks, though, coming from a small town and a small high school. The only scholarship offer I got was from a junior college out in Arizona. So that’s where I went for a year.”
Stan found himself at Arizona Western Junior College in Yuma. It turned out a lot of the Matador football players hailed from the East, including Stan’s roommate, running back Mike Giacone who had been recruited by the Tigers out of Westfield (N.J.) High School.
“Mike hated it in Yuma and wanted to go back East,” Stan says, “He announced he wasn’t returning after the first year. He said if I wanted, he would put my name out to Towson where he was headed. Coach (Phil) Albert and coach (Rich) Bader contacted me. I told them I wanted to come to Maryland. I wanted to come to Towson.”
Stan became an instant starter, anchoring an offensive line that over his three-year career contributed heavily to a 26-8-1 record and two NCAA Division II post-season appearances. Honored as Towson’s Senior Male Athlete of the Year in 1986, he was named first team All-America by Kodak, the Associated Press and The Football News, making him the most decorated offensive lineman during the program’s Division II era.
“Once I got to Towson I really started to develop as a football player,” Stan recalls. “I attribute that to the coaching staff and weight room. I grew, got stronger. I didn’t really believe that I had NFL potential but the confidence the coaching staff had in me made me excel. That was probably the best coaching staff I’d ever been with. The lessons I learned from them I have continued to use.”
Stan was feeling confident about the NFL’s 1986 college draft, especially since a Denver Broncos scout was camped out in his dorm room during the draft. But the call never came.
“Denver was supposed to take me but didn’t,” says Stan, who became the first offensive lineman at Towson to play in the NFL. “I had an agent. I was his first client. We searched the free agent market and decided on Seattle. The teams didn’t have practice squads back then but Chuck Knox was the coach and he saw something in me. They took me on as a project in a development program and I stayed with Seattle for three years (1986-87-88). Then it was the first year of Plan B free agency. The Indianapolis Colts offered me more money than I had made in the three years with the Seahawks. I was with them for one year. They let me go in 1990.”
Stan, whose three brothers John, Dave and Dan all played college football for Lock Haven State, settled in Indianapolis. At the time of his induction he was the general manager of a freightliner dealership in Anderson, Ind.
