All He Needed Was Coach Who Knew How to Use His Talent

It has been a long, winding road to success in pro football for former Glendale College quarterback Bob Gagliano of the Detroit Lions.

Gagliano started at Glendale, then transferred to U.S. International. After USIU dropped football, he finished at Utah State.

The Kansas City Chiefs drafted him in the 12th round in 1981, but he played in only two games in three years. When the United States Football League came along, Gagliano joined the Denver Gold, where he played for Coach Mouse Davis and learned his run-and-shoot offense.

After the USFL folded, Gagliano spent parts of 1986 and ’87 with the San Francisco 49ers before dropping out of football. He was attending firefighters’ school last spring when the Lions called. Davis was coaching the Lions’ offense and needed a player familiar with his system.

Gagliano has started the last two games and threw the winning touchdown pass against the New Orleans Saints on Dec. 3. Gagliano was playing in relief of former Trojan Rodney Peete, who was injured.

“A lot can be said for perseverance,” Gagliano said. “I’ve always felt a player should stay even-keeled during the bad times as well as the good times. This year has been a pleasant surprise.”

Add pro football: The Philadelphia Eagles will be pulling for the Raiders to beat the New York Giants Sunday and help both teams’ playoff chances. Eagle Coach Buddy Ryan said: “I like the Oakland--I know you all call them the Los Angeles--Raiders’ chances. They’re the same kind of team we are, physical like the Giants, and that’s the kind of team you have to be to beat the Giants.”

Trivia time: On Dec. 21, 1981, which two basketball teams set an NCAA record by playing seven overtime periods?

Picking his spot: Philadelphia 76er forward Charles Barkley accused his teammates of merely going through the motions during an 87-72 loss to the New Jersey Nets on Dec. 12. Ron Anderson, a 76er reserve, said: “We might not have played with a lot of emotion against the Nets, but it wasn’t that we didn’t care. Barkley played two bad games and had one good one and decides to speak out. Give me a break.”

Put up and shut up: Steve Jacobson of Newsday quotes New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner on the latest free-agent signings: “Guys in the smaller TV markets are saying the Yankees are in the big market. I’m being a good boy. We didn’t break the $3-million (a-year) barrier; Gene Autry did in California. And then Oakland. Then who breaks the record is Kansas City. The next time (Royal owner) Ewing Kauffman says they don’t have the market to compete with me, I’ll say, ‘Sit down and shut up.’ ”

Trivia answer: Cincinnati beat Bradley, 75-73.

Quotebook: Jiri Mainus, U.S. men’s cycling coach, on amateur sports and the political upheaval in the Eastern Bloc: “By the next Olympics, you could see the United States win as many medals as in 1984, when the Eastern Bloc did not compete.”