| No. 40 | |||||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | November 17, 1935 Clifton, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 194 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Clifton | ||||||||||
| College: | Texas A&M | ||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1958 / round: 5 / pick: 58 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Bobby Joe Conrad (born November 17, 1935) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies.
Conrad was born on November 17, 1935, in Clifton, Texas. [1] He attended Clifton High School, where he was an All-state quarterback, while leading the team to back-to-back district championships in 1952 and 1953. [2] He was the first player from Clifton High to be named All-state. He was also named all-district and district most valuable player both of those years. [3] As a senior, he scored 207 points and took Clifton to the state semi-finals where they lost to the eventual state champion Ranger High School. [2] In 2006, he was inducted into the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame. [3]
He accepted a football scholarship from Texas A&M University to play under head coach Bear Bryant. He was a two-way player at halfback and end, although he also played quarterback and fullback. [3] He never was a full-time starter,[ citation needed ] and was a member of the school's 1956 SWC Championship team [2] [3] .
During his college career (1955-57), Conrad had a 4.9 yards per carry rushing average, in 106 attempts. [4] One of his teammates was 1957 Heisman Trophy winner John David Crow, who had 1,465 yards in 295 attempts over the same period. [5] [6] [7] He and Crow would go on to play as teammates in the NFL from 1958-64. [8] [1]
Conrad participated in the 1958 Chicago College All-Star Game and although he had never attempted a kick in college, he was able to make 4 field goals, 3 conversions, set the game scoring record with 15 points and also intercepted one pass in the 35–19 upset of the 1957 NFL Champion Detroit Lions. [9] [10] [2] [11]
In 1976, he was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. [12] In 2002, he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. [13] [2]
The New York Giants traded for the Baltimore Colts fifth round draft pick in 1958, and then selected Conrad in the fifth round (58th overall) of the 1958 NFL draft. [14] [6] On May 10, he was traded along with safety Dick Nolan to the Chicago Cardinals, in exchange for End Pat Summerall and halfback Lindon Crow. [15]
In 1958 as a rookie, he was a starter at defensive back and had 4 interceptions and one fumble recovered. Three of his interceptions came in a single game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Bobby Layne. On special teams, he made 6 out of 17 field goals and returned 19 punts for 129 yards (6.8-yard average). [1] [6]
In 1959, he was moved to the backfield with college teammate John David Crow. He had 74 carries for 328 yards (including a 56-yard run on September 27, 1959), 14 receptions for 142 yards, 6 touchdowns, made 6 out of 9 field goals, 18 kickoff returns for 388 yards and 16 punt returns for 133 yards (8.3-yard average). [1] On September 27, 1959, he rushed for 140 yards on only 11 carries, with two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. [16]
In 1961, he was moved to flanker pairing him with Sonny Randle, [17] while registering 30 receptions for 499 yards and 2 touchdowns. [1] In 1962, he collected 62 receptions (third in the league) for 954 yards (ninth in the league) and 4 touchdowns. [1] [18]
In 1963, he led the league with 73 receptions and received All-NFL honors, being named first team All Pro by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI), and second team All-Pro by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA). He also had 967 receiving yards (sixth in the league) and 10 touchdowns. [19] [20] [1]
In 1964, he posted 61 receptions (fourth in the league) for 780 yards and 6 touchdowns, receiving Pro Bowl honors. The UPI named him second team All Pro. [21] [1] [22] In 1965, he had 58 receptions for 909 yards and 5 touchdowns. [1]
On June 26, 1969, he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#127-Barry Pierson). [23] [24]
He left as the seventh All-time pass receiver in the NFL with 422 receptions (418 with the Cardinals) and had a string of 148 consecutive games played. He was the Cardinals all-time leading receiver at the time he was traded. [1] [23] After believing he came within a game of breaking Don Hutson's NFL record for consecutive games with a reception, it was discovered that Don Hutson's record was counted erroneously. Conrad set the record for most consecutive games with a reception; 94 contests from 1961 to 1968. [25]
He is considered one of the top Cardinals receivers in the team's over 100-year history, and one of its 100 greatest players. [26] [27]
On September 20, 1969, the Dallas Cowboys put injured wide receiver Bob Hayes on the "move list" and activated Conrad. [28] He played in 8 games, recording 4 receptions for 74 yards. [1]
He moved back to Clifton after retiring, and worked for the Federal Land Bank, Farmers Home Administration and/or the Texas Land Bank. He was also a judge in Bosque County for eight years. [6] [23]
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