Stephen Craig Conley is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

player, who played both

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. The ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

. He played for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The club's home ...

and

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 h ...

of 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 ma ...

(NFL), and also played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

(CFL) and the World Football League (WFL).

College career

Conley played high school football at Arlington High School and initially played college football at Arizona Western College. He then transferred to

the University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

where he played as a running back. One of his most notable experiences at Kansas was dropping a last second

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 Americ ...

pass to win a game against arch-rival

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

in 1979 which would have won the game, after dreaming the night before he would be involved in a play that would decide the game. The following year he rushed for a touchdown to help beat Kansas State. In October 1970 he was named player of the week for his performance in a game against

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the so ...

. Until his junior year at Kansas he shared a backfield with future

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

John Riggins Robert John Riggins (born August 4, 1949), nicknamed "Riggo" and "Diesel", is an American former professional football player who was a fullback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets and Washington Redskins. He played c ...

. Conley finished his college career in 1971 with 1064 yards on 253 carries for an average of 4.2 yards per rush. He also scored 10 touchdowns – 8 rushing and 2 receiving.

Professional career

Conley was drafted by the Bengals in the 7th round of the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

, with the 158th overall pick. The Bengals initially wanted to convert Conley to a linebacker because they had lost several linebackers to injury the prior year, and felt that Conley agility would be well suited to the linebacker position. Conley was on the Bengals'

taxi squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

for the first 6 games of the 1972 season but got a break in late October when the Bengals traded away two running backs,

Fred Willis Fred Willis (born December 9, 1947) is a retired American football running back who played six seasons in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Oilers. Early life Willis grew up in Natick, Massachusetts and attende ...

and Paul Robinson, to the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

in exchange for wide receiver

Charlie Joiner Charles B. Joiner Jr. (born October 14, 1947) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. He is best known for his career ...

and linebacker

Ron Pritchard Ronald David Pritchard (born April 2, 1947) is a former American football linebacker and professional wrestler. Pritchard played nine seasons with the Houston Oilers and the Cincinnati Bengals, first in the American Football League, then in the Na ...

. The Bengals activated Conley as a backup running back for their October 29 game against the Oilers. Conley rushed for 8 yards on 3 carries in the game, won by the Bengals by a score of 30-7. He also played on special teams and recovered an Oiler

fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful h ...

on a punt return. This would prove to be the only game Conley would play for the Bengals and the only rushes he would have in his NFL career. A few days after the game the Bengals picked up running back

Reece Morrison Reece Earsal Morrison (born October 21, 1945) is a former American football running back who played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals. He was selected by the Browns in the third rou ...

on waivers and waived Conley. The Cardinals signed Conley a few days later, primarily to play on special teams, but also a little bit at linebacker. Conley played in all seven of the Cardinals' remaining games in 1972. During the 1973 season the Cardinals moved him back to running back. But the Cardinals released him prior to the regular season. Conley then joined the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the CFL, where he played as a linebacker and as a

slotback Slotback, sometimes referred to as an A-back or slot receiver, is a position in gridiron football. The "slot" is the area between the last offensive lineman on either side of the center and the wide receiver on that side. A player who lines up ...

. He played 5 games for the Tiger-Cats and caught 5 passes for 47 yards. He also gained 5 yards rushing on 3 attempts for the Tiger-Cats. In 1974, Conley and several other Hamilton players were in a dispute over their contracts because the league increased the schedule from 14 games to 16 without increasing the players' salaries. Conley briefly joined the Chicago Fire of the WFL but before the season started in July 1974 he was waived and signed by the

Birmingham Americans The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in t ...

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

and linebacker. He was traded to

the Hawaiians Hawaiians Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Island ...

during the season, in August. After playing 4 games for the Hawaiians he was cut, but ended up in a dispute with the team over not being paid. He had 1

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

for the Americans and 1 for the Hawaiians that year. In 1975 Conley joined the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third ...

of the CFL as a running back but was cut in preseason and then joined the

San Antonio Wings The San Antonio Wings were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1975. The team started as the Florida Blazers in 1974, then moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Florida Blazer ...

of the WFL. He played both running back and linebacker for the Wings. Conley rushed 9 times for 33 yards and caught 2 passes for 33 yards for the Wings. After being cut by the Wings late in the season he was signed by the

Philadelphia Bell The Philadelphia Bell was a franchise in the World Football League, which operated in 1974 and a portion of a season in 1975. The Bell played their home games in 1974 at JFK Stadium in South Philadelphia. The team logo was a representation of t ...

as a linebacker.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Conley, Steve 1949 births American football running backs American football linebackers Kansas Jayhawks football players Cincinnati Bengals players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players The Hawaiians players Birmingham Americans players Players of American football from Chicago Hamilton Tiger-Cats players San Antonio Wings players Philadelphia Bell players Living people