Jay was an all-state track and field, basketball and football star at Gothenburg, Nebraska, High School where his father Pat coached him. An All-America at Wyoming, Novacek averaged 22.5 yards per catch on 33 receptions as a senior in 1984. He finished his collegiate career with 83 catches for 1,536 yards and four touchdowns, including an 83-yarder. The University of Wyoming record holder in the decathlon and pole vault, Novacek won the Western Athletic Conference championship in the decathlon in 1984. He also competed in the decathlon at the 1984 US Olympic Trials.

In 1985 Novacek was a sixth-round draft pick by the Cardinals and played mainly on special teams as a rookie. Dallas signed him as a Plan B free agent from Phoenix in 1990 after he caught 81 passes for 1,048 yards and eight touchdowns with the Cardinals from 1987-1989.

Jay Novacek is considered the most prolific pass catching tight end in Cowboys history. His career with the Cowboys spanned from 1990 to 1996. Between 1990 and 1995 no other National Football League tight end caught more passes (339) and only two had more yards receiving (3,576) than the Cowboys’ Jay Novacek. During that time, he made five consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl, the only tight end in club history to achieve that, and in 1993 was named Tight End of the Year by the NFL Alumni Association. Jay ended his career with four 100-yard receiving games as a Cowboy. His reliable hands also served Dallas kickers well as the holder for field goals and extra points. Jay was also a member of the Cowboy’s teams that won Super Bowl XXVII in 1992, Super Bowl XXVIII in 1993 and Super Bowl XXX in 1995.

A Dallas Cowboy on the field and a real cowboy off the field, in 1991 Jay won the team event and had the highest individual score in the NFL National Cutting Horse Association Super Stakes, which matched a top cutting horse professional with an NFL player. He followed that with a third place showing in the 1992 competition before coming back to win the 1994 title. He also participated in a celebrity cutting horse competition to benefit the Texas A&M’s Children Therapeutic Program.

Jay founded The Nova Center, a non-profit Christian Ministry of Christ the King Covenant Church which is dedicated to helping individuals and their families who are battling clinical depression, other debilitating conditions, and funding the building of the Nova Wellness Center.

Jay and his wife Amy reside on their ranch in North Texas.