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Mark Conrad
Pierce County Bengals
Kicker / Punter
1975-1980
When a semi-pro football team finds a really good kicker,
that team should cultivate the opportunity and use the
weapon at every opportunity. In the 1970's, the Pierce
County Bengals did just that when Mark Conrad became
available to the defending NIFL Champions.
Attending college at the University of Puget Sound, Conrad
was lighting up the record books at the time, scoring a career record 186 points and raking in four-consecutive
All-Northwest Little All America honors. During his
junior season he topped 42.5 yards per punt to add to his
record 49-yard field goal long while also pulling in track
and field accolades as a javelin thrower.
With the Bengals having won the 1973 and 1974 NIFL titles,
Bengals coach Steve Harshman made his pitch and signed
Conrad as Pierce County's punter and kicker.
Form the day he stepped on a semi pro field, he was hands
down the best kicking specialist in the Northwest, even with
the inconsistent snap-hold issues that always plague semi
pro teams. It took only four games into the '75 season
for Conrad to tie the record for most points by a kicker
when he accounted for 14 points on 3 field goals and 5 PATs.
From 1975-1978 he again earned four-consecutive All-NIFL
nods accounting for 223 points and a 40-yard per punt
average.
The Seattle Seahawks took notice and signed Conrad to
training camp in May of 1979. Four kickers were
brought to camp and Mark lasted until the final cuts on
August 22, having out-kicked Division I booters from
Colorado State and Washington State. The Seahawks
elected to stay with "Thunderfoot" Weaver who finished his
11-year NFL career in Seattle after the 1980 season.
Three days after his release, Conrad was back in a Bengal
uniform splitting kicks with Mike Maiuri previously of
Pacific Lutheran University and Franklin-Pierce High.
Splitting time kicking was not new as Mark had split PAT
duties will Bob Currier early in the '75 season. Even
splitting time again, Conrad was back on top of the NIFL
hitting 10 field goals, earning his fifth-straight All-NIFL
selection.
When 1980 began, it was already a foregone conclusion that
Conrad and Maiuri would split kicks again. Conrad
opened the season with a 51.8 yard per punt average and hit
two field goals and a PAT before taking off on vacation to
Hawaii. When he returned, Maiuri was on the shelf with
a hyperextended knee from a questionable target during one
of his PAT attempts. So it was, that Conrad was back
to full time in his final season handling kicking and
punting duties. Maiuri would step in sporadically for
PATs and punts later in the '80 campaign. Going into
the 1980 West Coast Championship game with the Twin City
Cougars, Conrad was averaging 46 yards per punt for the
season. Adding three PATs in the game, the Bengals
fell short in their rally, ending the season with a 28-23
loss to the Cougars. Conrad was again, the top punter
in the NIFL for a sixth year.
Conrad would retire and take up the Orting High School head
coaching position where he remained until 1992. For
ten consecutive seasons, Tacoma was home to the top
collegiate and semi pro kicker in the Northwest.
However, it wasn't the last time he kicked. Doning the
colors of where it all started, Mark helped lead the UPS
Alumni in a 24-14 win over the UPS Varsity in 1986 showing
off his still strong leg hitting a 40-yard field goal.
Mark Conrad was inducted into the University of Puget Sound
Hall of Fame in 2000.
Collegiate Honors
1971 All-Northwest Little All America
1972 All-Northwest Little All America
1973 All-Northwest Little All America
1974 All-Northwest Little All America
1974 East-West Shrine Bowl Invite
2000 University of Puget Sound Hall of Fame
Semi-Pro Honors
1975 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
1976 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
1977 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
1978 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
1979 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
1980 All Northwest International League 1st Team Kicking
Specialist
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