Buffalo Bills
Hellestrae was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fourth round (112th overall) of the 1985 NFL draft.[1] He was also selected by the Houston Gamblers in the 1985 USFL Territorial Draft. As a rookie, he missed the last 12 games with a broken right thumb. In 1986, he played in the first 2 games before missing the next 8 with a broken navicular bone in his left wrist. In 1987, he was lost for the season after being placed on the injured reserve list with a hip injury.
In 1988, he appeared in all 16 games and he had his only career starts, when he started at right guard in the final two regular season games and in two playoff games.[2] During his four seasons with the team, he could only play in 28 games because of injury problems.[3]
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys acquired him with the intention of concentrating on playing long snapper in all of the special teams units and to back up the guard and center positions.[7] During his time with the team he quickly became one of the best long snappers in the NFL and in team history.[8]
In 1992, he had 6 special teams tackles. In 1993, he made 7 special teams tackles. In 1994, he had 5 special teams tackles. In 1997, he posted 5 special teams tackles. In 1998, he had 9 special teams tackles. In 1999, he registered 10 special teams tackles (sixth on the team).
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, Hellestrae had to snap for eight different placekickers and seven punters, while helping the team win 3 Super Bowls.
On March 1, 2001, he was released because of salary cap implications.[9] At the time he was second in franchise history with 176 consecutive games played, behind Bob Lilly.