Jay Novacek, three-time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys, five-time Pro Bowl and College Football Hall of Famer.
Jay McKinley Novacek was born on October 24, 1962, in Martin, South Dakota. He later moved with his family to Nebraska, attended high school in Gothenberg. Jay played quarterback on the football team, was one of the top basketball players in the state, and played athletics. In 1980, he set the Nebraska high school record in pole vaulting.
After graduation, he accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Wyoming. Novacek began his student career as a receiver, a year later changing his role to a tight end. At the same time, he did not have many opportunities to prove himself — the offense of Wyoming was focused on the takeaway, playing an average of 18 passing combinations per match. In three seasons of his career, Jay has made 83 receptions at 1,536 yards. In 1984, he set an NCAA record for tight ends, averaging 22.3 yards per hold.
He also became the winner of the conference championship in decathlon, participated in qualifying competitions for the Olympics in Los Angeles. In 2008, Novacek was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
He began his professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals, who picked him in the 6th round of the 1985 draft. Jay spent the first season in special teams, played as a receiver, and from the second he returned to the tight end. This period of his play in the league turned out to be crumpled due to several injuries, and in 1990 the coach changed in the team. Unwilling to play the role of blocker in the vast majority of rallies, Novacek left the Cardinals as a free agent. Dallas became his new team.
Here, Jay from the first season revealed himself as one of the best in his position in playing at the reception. From 1991 to 1995, he was invariably included in the Pro Bowl list. Together with the Cowboys, he became the winner of Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII and XXX. In each of them, Novacek entered the field in the starting lineup.
After winning the third championship ring, he began to experience health problems again. Chronic back pain eventually led him to retire in the summer of 1997. Jay spent eleven seasons in the league in total, averaging 4,630 yards and 30 touchdowns.
After the completion of the performances, Novacek stayed to live in Texas. He regularly participates in various sports programs for young people, starred in a sports reality show. For the past twenty years, he has run his own training camp annually at the University of Texas A&M.