Dale Hellestrae

Dale Robert Hellestrae (born July 11, 1962 in Phoenix, Arizona) is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Baltimore Ravens. A member of three Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl teams, the 6-foot-5, 300-pound offensive lineman specialized as a long snapper and special teams player during his professional career.

Early years
Dale Hellestrae was born in Phoenix, Arizona, as a descendant of Norwegian immigrants; his first name Dale is the name of the area his ancestors came from (Dale, Hordaland), and his second name Hellestrae (Norwegian:Hellestræ) is his ancestors' farm's name. Hellestrae attended Saguaro High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was an all-state selection in football. After high school he spent one year at the Marine Military Academy.

He received a scholarship to play at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he was a two-year starter and earned All-Southwest Conference honors as a senior, playing offensive tackle.

Buffallo Bills
Hellestrae was drafted in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. During his four seasons with the team, he could only play in 28 games because of injury problems. 1988 was his most productive season, when he started at right guard in the final two regular season games and in two playoff games.

Oakland Raiders
In 1989 he signed in Plan B free agency with the Oakland Raiders, but spent all of the season on injured reserve after breaking his leg in training camp.

Dallas Cowboys
In 1990 he was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a seventh round draft choice, with the intention of concentrating on playing long snapper in all of the special teams and to back up the guard and center positions. During his time with the team he quickly became one of the best long snappers in the NFL and in team history.

In the 1990s, the Cowboys organization felt they could find placekickers and punters through free agency, without the need of paying a premium and adversely impacting the salary cap, so they allowed talented and productive players to leave, instead of signing them into long-term contracts. In his 11 seasons playing with the Cowboys, he had to snapp for eight different placekickers and seven punters, while helping the team win 3 Super Bowls.

Hellestrae was released after the 2000 season, but the team couldn't find a suitable replacement until they signed L. P. Ladouceur in 2005.

Baltimore Ravens
In 2001 he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent to fill in for injured rookie Joe Maese, but only played in one game before being released.

Personal life
Today, Hellestrae works as a color analyst on professional and NCAA football games, particularly for College Football on Versus, as well as often guest hosting on XTRA Sports 910's (KGME) morning show with Mike Jurecki. He also appears as a guest analyst on "Sports Tonight" on KPNX, Channel 12, in Phoenix with co-hosts Kevin Hunt and Bruce Cooper. He is now the owner of Cookies By Design, custom cookie boquet delivery, in the Scottsdale area. He is also an assistant high school football coach at Scottsdale Christian Academy.