Dan Bailey is not your typical footballer who started playing as a kid and was just learning to walk or ready to play the sport. Nevertheless, he was able to develop gradually until he played in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys with whom he still plays since being signed by the team in 2011.
Considered by many to be one of the best kickers the league has ever seen, it was in football that Bailey rose to fame, but his personal life, although usually kept out of the public eye, is no less interesting.
Dan Bailey Biography (Age)
On January 26, 1988, the American football star was born in Oklahoma City. It was here that he was raised by his parents, Gary Bailey and Ann Bailey, alongside his sister, Sarah Bailey.
For his education, Dan Bailey went to Southwest Covenant School and later Oklahoma State University. Nevertheless, it was football that brought him to where he is today. Interestingly, as noted above, he did not take up the sport, unlike many mainstream personalities, and even sports in general.
The first time he kicked the ball was when he was only 4 years old, but he was a young boy who was just starting to learn football. By the age of eight or nine years old probably, he had already become a good football player who he could easily and accurately kick from one foot to the other from the field. Nevertheless, he always came to choose football.
Playing at Southwest Covenant, the school club’s eight-man team didn’t have a kicker. At that time, he was playing as a backup for two other players and a linebacker. But then what he really wanted to do on his journey was to become a kicker, which led him to enlist the help of others and create a home goalpost for training. Previously, he trained by asking friends to replace him with an imaginary position.
It was the start of his journey to becoming a kicker unlike many before him in the NFL. Even before that, he moved on to high school and set the longest field goal range of 50 yards, as well as the most single-season and career field goals of seven and fourteen, respectively. As you would expect, he also excelled in his college career.
During his free agency spell in 2011, the Dallas Cowboys signed Bailey after the 2011 draft as an undrafted free agent. He would stay with the team for years to come, signing a $22.5 million contract extension in 2017 that would see him stay with the Cowboys for the next 7 years.
His career highlights to date include the 2015 Pro Bowl as well as the second All-Pro team he also achieved in 2015. In 2011, he was made into the PFWA’s rookie category.
His wife and family
The stories of athletes meeting their life partners since their teenage years and growing up to start a family are not uncommon. You even find more stories of athletes meeting their better halves in college. It’s the story of Dan Bailey who met the woman who became his wife, Krista Bailey, when they were both in college.
Born as Krista Cochran in Cincinnati, KristaBailey practiced athletics similarly to Dan when she was at Oklahoma State University, although it was gymnastics she devoted her time to. After meeting in college, the two were able to maintain their relationship and in 2011 they decided to get married.
Even though the young family doesn’t have any kids yet, it should be no surprise if Dan and Krista decide to start having kids and you’ll see they decide to play sports as well. It’s like Dan is serious about football, his wife once worked as a gymnastics coach at Texas Dreams Gymnastics before leaving.
Height and width
One of the first things many can guess with football players in general and NFL players in particular is that they have good height and are well built. So too is Dan Bailey, who isn’t necessarily the tallest man in the league, standing 6ft 0in (1.83m) tall and weighing 195lbs (88kg).