Burke Dales (born February 16, 1977) is a former professional

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

punter. He was signed by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2002. He played

CIS Football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

with the

Concordia Stingers The Concordia Stingers are the athletic teams that represent Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They compete with other schools in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and more specifically in Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSE ...

. Over his 9-year career Dales played for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at the Brick Field at Commo ...

, and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the Canadian F ...

. Dales was born in Collingwood,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and raised in

Brockville, Ontario Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

After playing at

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, Dales attended the

2002 training camp. He also tried to make the team as a kick-off specialist. When he placekicks, he uses the straight-on style which had not been seen in the NFL since the 1980s.

Montreal Alouettes

Dales attended

's 2003 training camp and sat out the remainder of the 2003 and 2004 seasons before signing with Calgary in 2005.

Calgary Stampeders

Dales was signed as a free agent on March 8, 2005, by the

. Prior to the Stampeders'

96th Grey Cup The 96th Grey Cup was held in Montreal, Quebec at Olympic Stadium on November 23, 2008. The East Division champion Montreal Alouettes hosted the West Division champion Calgary Stampeders. The Stampeders won the game 22–14, with quarterback Henry ...

victory in 2008, Dales was offered a new contract to re-sign with Calgary for the

2009 CFL season The 2009 CFL season was the 56th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it was the 52nd season of the Canadian Football League. The Montreal Alouettes won the 97th Grey Cup on November 29 with a last second 28–27 win over the Saska ...

but withheld signing until seeing if he could get interest from a National Football League team. Dales re-signed with the Stampeders on March 24, 2009, after failing to gain interest from NFL teams and a reportedly higher offer from the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

would have meant losing his off-season employment.

Edmonton Eskimos

After becoming a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012, Dales signed with the

on February 19, 2012. On July 22, 2013, he was released by the Eskimos.

Montreal Alouettes

On October 30, 2013, Dales was signed by the

Retirement

Dales announced his retirement on May 16, 2014.

Personal life

Dales' sister, Stacey, is a former

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

player. His cousin

Jason Arnott Jason William Arnott (born October 11, 1974) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He began his National Hockey League career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1993–94 after being selected seventh overall in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft ...

played 18 seasons in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

References

External links

Edmonton Eskimos bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dales, Burke 1977 births Living people American football punters Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football punters Canadian players of American football Concordia Stingers football players Edmonton Elks players Montreal Alouettes players Sportspeople from Collingwood, Ontario Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of Canadian football from Ontario