Bobby Joe Conrad (born November 17, 1935) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals hav ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Texas A&M Aggies Texas A&M Aggies refers to the students, graduates, and sports teams of Texas A&M University. The nickname "Aggie" was once common at land-grant or "ag" (agriculture) schools in many states. The teams are also referred to as "A&M" or "Texas Aggi ...

Early years

Conrad attended Clifton High School, where he was an All-state

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, while leading the team to back-to-back district championships in 1952 and 1953. 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. He accepted a football scholarship from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

to play under head coach

Bear Bryant Paul William "Bear" Bryant (September 11, 1913 – January 26, 1983) was an American college football player and coach. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest college football coaches of all time, and best known as the head coach of ...

. He was a two-way player at halfback and end, although he also played quarterback and fullback. He never was a full-time starter and was a member of the school's 1956 SWC Championship team. Conrad participated in the 1958

Chicago College All-Star Game The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League (NFL) champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year. It was also known as the C ...

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 The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Champion

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

. In 1976, he was inducted into the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2002, he was inducted into the

Texas Sports Hall of Fame The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction (baseball ...

Professional career

New York Giants

Conrad was selected by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the fifth round (58th overall) of the

1958 NFL Draft The 1958 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 2, 1957, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 28, 1958. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. This was the 12th and final year in ...

. On May 10, he was traded along with

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

Dick Nolan Rick Nolan is a Minnesota politician. Richard Nolan may also refer to *Dick Nolan (American football) (1932–2007), American football player, father of Mike Nolan, former head coach of San Francisco 49ers *Dick Nolan (musician) (1939–2005), Cana ...

to the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

, in exchange for End

Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall announ ...

and halfback

Lindon Crow Lindon Oscar Crow (April 4, 1933 – October 25, 2018) was an American football cornerback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). He was named to three Pro Bowls. College career Crow played college football at the U ...

Chicago / St. Louis Cardinals

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

as a rookie, he was a starter at

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

and had 4 interceptions and one fumble recovered. On

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

, he made 6 out of 17 field goals and returned 19 punts for 129 yards (6.8-yard average). In

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, he was moved to the backfield with college teammate

John David Crow John David Crow Sr. (July 8, 1935 – June 17, 2015) was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1957 as a halfback for the Texas A&M Aggies. After college, he played professional f ...

. He had 74 carries for 328 yards (including a 56-yard run), 14 receptions for 142 yards, 6

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, made 6 out of 9 field goals, 18 kickoff returns for 388 yards and 16 punt returns for 133 yards (8.3-yard average). In

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

, he was moved to flanker pairing him with

Sonny Randle Ulmo Shannon "Sonny" Randle Jr. (January 6, 1936 – May 23, 2017) was an American sportscaster and football player and coach. He played wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Cardinals/St. Louis Cardinals, San Fran ...

, while registering 30 receptions for 499 yards and 2

s. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, he collected 63 receptions (third in the league) for 954 yards (ninth in the league) and 4

s. In

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

, he led the league with 73 receptions and received All-NFL honors. He also had 967 receiving yards (sixth in the league) and 10

s. In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, he posted 61 receptions (fourth in the league) for 780 yards and 6

s, receiving

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

honors. In

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, he had 58 receptions for 909 yards and 5

s. On June 26,

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, he was traded to the

in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#127-Barry Pierson). He left as the seventh All-time pass receiver in the NFL with 418 receptions and had a string of 148 consecutive games played. After believing he came within a game of breaking

Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson (January 31, 1913 – June 26, 1997) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an end and spent his entire 11-year professional career with the ...

'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

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

.Hudson, Maryann. "Receiver’s 94-Game Streak Was a Mere Slip of the Pen," ''Los Angeles Times'', Tuesday, December 24, 1991.
Retrieved May 22, 2022.

Dallas Cowboys

On September 20,

, the

put injured wide receiver

Bob Hayes Robert Lee Hayes (December 20, 1942 – September 18, 2002), nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an Olympic gold medalist sprinter who then became an American football split end in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys (for 11 seasons). ...

on the "move list" and activated Conrad. He played in 8 games, recording 4 receptions for 74 yards.

References

External links

Texas Sports Hall of Fame bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad, Bobby Joe 1935 births Living people People from Clifton, Texas Players of American football from Texas Texas A&M Aggies football players Chicago Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players Dallas Cowboys players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players