Terence Steele Bio
Terence Steele is an American professional football offensive tackle who has played for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League since 2020. He played college football at Texas Tech, where he developed into a reliable and durable presence on the offensive line. Going undrafted out of college, Steele earned his place in the league through consistent performance and has since become one of the most dependable offensive tackles on the Cowboys roster.
Born on June 4, 1997, in San Antonio, Texas, Terence Steele stands 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 320 pounds, giving him the size and frame ideally suited for the offensive tackle position. He has spent his entire National Football League career with the Dallas Cowboys, signing an undrafted free agent contract in April 2020. As of Week 17, 2025, Steele has appeared in 95 career games with 90 starts, and he has played 100% of the offensive snaps for the Cowboys in recent seasons, underscoring his durability and value.
Early Life and Background
Terence Steele was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, where he attended Byron P. Steele II High School in Cibolo. As a senior at Byron P. Steele II High School, Steele played left tackle and earned All-District 25-6A honors and San Antonio Express-News first team All-Area recognition. His performance at the high school level established him as a promising football prospect and drew interest from several college programs across the region.
Recruiting analysts rated Steele as a three-star prospect, ranking him among the top offensive tackles in his class in Texas. He committed to Texas Tech over competing offers from Brigham Young University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas at San Antonio. His choice of Texas Tech set the foundation for a college career that would ultimately lead to the National Football League, and his background in San Antonio provided the early football foundation that shaped his development as a lineman.
Path to Offensive Tackle
At Texas Tech, Terence Steele quickly established himself as a key contributor to the Red Raiders football program. As a redshirt freshman in 2016, he started at left tackle and earned All-Big 12 freshman team honors while blocking for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was then a Red Raiders player and is now a star in the National Football League. Steele contributed to a Texas Tech offense that led the nation in passing yards and total offense that season, an early indicator of his ability to perform at the highest levels of college football.
Steele started all 13 games at right tackle as a sophomore and then started all 12 games as a junior in 2018, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 honors both seasons. As a senior in 2019, he missed the first two games due to a preseason injury but returned to start 10 games at right tackle, again receiving honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition. He finished his college career with 47 total starts, capped by participation in the Senior Bowl and the NFL Scouting Combine. Steele graduated from Texas Tech with a durable body of work that convinced the Dallas Cowboys to sign him as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft.
Terence Steele Career
Early Career (2020-2021)
The Dallas Cowboys signed Terence Steele as an undrafted free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft on April 27, 2020. The Cowboys moved him to right tackle, and a rash of injuries to the starting and backup offensive tackles opened the door for Steele to become a starter. Starting right tackle La’el Collins suffered a season-ending injury and backup Cameron Erving missed time with separate injuries, which pushed Steele into the starting lineup for the Cowboys.
Steele started 14 of 16 games in his rookie season, making him only the fourth offensive tackle in the Super Bowl era and the ninth in league history to start at least 14 games as an undrafted rookie. In 2021, he started at right tackle early in the season before sliding to left tackle after Tyron Smith was injured, and he caught his first NFL touchdown pass on a reception from quarterback Dak Prescott against the Washington Football Team on December 26, 2021.
Dallas Cowboys Breakthrough (2022-2024)
In 2022, Terence Steele started 13 games at right tackle, continuing to establish himself as a durable and reliable piece on the Cowboys offensive line. In Week 14 against the Houston Texans, Steele suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee, which forced him to the Reserve/Injured list and ended his season. The Cowboys replaced him in the starting lineup with Jason Peters and Josh Ball. The injury was a significant setback, but Steele rehabilitated and returned ready for the 2023 season.
On September 3, 2023, Terence Steele signed a five-year contract extension with the Cowboys worth $86,800,000, solidifying his status as a cornerstone of the Dallas offensive line. During the 2023 season, he started all 17 games at right tackle for the first time in his career and helped the Cowboys offense finish as the top scoring offense in the National Football League at 29.9 points per game. In Week 10 against the New York Giants, the Cowboys offense posted 640 total yards, the second most in a single game in franchise history, with Steele anchoring the right side of the line throughout the contest.
In the 2024 season, Terence Steele started all 17 regular season games at right tackle for the second consecutive year. He was the only player on the Dallas Cowboys roster to play 100% of the offensive snaps during the 2024 season, highlighting his exceptional durability and reliability. His play contributed to running back Rico Dowdle becoming the first undrafted free agent in Cowboys history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season, underscoring Steele’s impact on the run game.
Dallas Cowboys Era (2025-Present)
Entering the 2025 season, Terence Steele is in his sixth season with the Dallas Cowboys and his second under the terms of his five-year contract extension. He returns to the lineup as the established starting right tackle and one of the most durable offensive linemen in franchise history. Coming off back-to-back seasons in which he started all 17 regular season games, Steele brings stability and experience to the Cowboys offensive line as the team competes for playoff positioning in the National Football League.
Playing Style and Strengths
Terence Steele stands 6 feet 6 inches tall and weighs 320 pounds, providing the size and length that are highly valued in offensive tackle play. His experience at both right tackle and left tackle gives the Cowboys valuable lineup flexibility, and his ability to anchor against both power rushers and speed rushers has been a strength throughout his career. He has built strong chemistry with fellow offensive linemen on the Cowboys roster, and his 90 career starts through 95 games played reflect a reliable presence in the Dallas offensive line rotation.
Notable Events and Milestones
Terence Steele is only the ninth player in National Football League history to start 14 or more games as an undrafted rookie offensive tackle, an achievement that has few parallels in the modern era. The Week 10 2023 game against the New York Giants produced 640 total yards for the Cowboys, the second most in franchise single-game history, with Steele anchoring the right tackle position throughout. His contract extension in September 2023, worth $86,800,000, made him one of the highest paid offensive tackles in Dallas Cowboys franchise history. His first career receiving touchdown, a catch from Dak Prescott in December 2021, is one of the rare scoring plays by an offensive tackle in the National Football League.
Terence Steele Career Wins
Terence Steele has played 95 career regular season games with 90 starts since entering the National Football League with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, and his teams have earned 55 regular season victories across those contests. His work as a consistent starter on the offensive line has contributed to Dallas Cowboys teams that have regularly ranked among the higher-scoring offenses in the National Football League.
Dallas Cowboys Highlights
Terence Steele has started 90 regular season games for the Dallas Cowboys across the 2020 through 2024 seasons. He started 14 games as an undrafted rookie in 2020, 10 games in 2021, 13 games in 2022 before a knee injury, and all 17 games in both 2023 and 2024. He helped the Cowboys offense become the top scoring unit in the National Football League during the 2023 season, and the team has regularly been among the better offenses in the league throughout his tenure.
Other Wins and Performances
At Texas Tech, Steele started 47 games and contributed to Red Raiders offenses that regularly ranked among the most productive in college football. He was named to the All-Big 12 freshman team in 2016 and received honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition following both his junior and senior seasons in 2018 and 2019.
| League | Seasons | Games | Starts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFL | 2020-2024 | 95 | 90 | All with Dallas Cowboys |
| College | 2015-2019 | 47 | 47 | All starts at Texas Tech |
Terence Steele Family
Family Background
Terence Steele was born in San Antonio, Texas, and attended high school at Byron P. Steele II High School in nearby Cibolo, Texas, a community in the San Antonio metropolitan area. His upbringing in the San Antonio area provided early exposure to football in Texas, where the sport holds a prominent place in the culture of local high schools and communities.
Personal Life
Terence Steele keeps his personal life largely private and focused on his football career. He is active on Instagram, where he shares aspects of his life as a professional football player with the Dallas Cowboys, and he maintains a low public profile outside of football-related activities. Details about his family and personal relationships beyond his football career are not widely documented in public sources.
2025 Season Performance
Terence Steele enters the 2025 season as the established starting right tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, coming off back-to-back seasons in which he started all 17 regular season games and played 100% of offensive snaps in 2024. He signed a contract extension in 2023 that keeps him with the team through the 2028 season, providing stability and continuity for the Dallas offensive line as the team competes in the National Football League.
Steele returns with 90 career starts through 95 games played, and he has been available and durable across multiple seasons after recovering from the torn ACL and MCL injury that ended his 2022 campaign. He is one of the few players in the National Football League capable of playing both offensive tackle positions, a flexibility that provides valuable depth and lineup options for the Cowboys coaching staff. His offensive line play continues to be a stabilizing force for the Dallas Cowboys as they pursue playoff success in the 2025 season.