All-Southwest Region team, and earned College Division All-American first-team honors from the American Football Coaches Association. He was also a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award, given to the best lineman in the small college ranks. At Northwest he was coached by Mel Tjeerdsma, who took the Bearcats to five consecutive NCAA Division II Football Championship title games between 2005 and 2009. During his years the team advanced to the quarterfinals in 2004 and the finals in 2005. In 2011, he personally paid for the Northwest jerseys at the request of Scott Bostwick who as defensive coordinator brought him to Northwest. His wife is Megan (née Stalder), a former Northwest softball player. Measureables Bench press: 410 lb Squat: 665 lb Professional career Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers drafted Tollefson as their last pick of the 2006 NFL Draft. He failed to make the final 53 man roster; however, he was added to the Packers practice squad. Tollefson spent the whole 2006 NFL season as a member of the practice squad. Oakland Raiders Tollefson played with the NFL Europa team Berlin Thunder under a futures contract he signed with the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders signed Dave Tollefson from the Packers practice squad before the 2007 NFL season, but he was waived by the Raiders during the final round of cuts. The Raiders allocated Tollefson to the Frankfurt Galaxy of NFL Europa. Tollefson enjoyed good success for the Galaxy, recording 4.5 sacks, 25 tackles and 5 passes defensed. New York Giants The New York Giants signed Tollefson from the Raiders practice squad on October 2, 2007; he played the final six games of the regular season for the Giants, recording 4 tackles. Tollefson was also activated for all four of the Giants postseason games, and during the NFC Divisional Playoff against the Dallas Cowboys he recorded 2 assisted tackles and a QB hurry. He also played in Super Bowl XLII. He was inactive for the first two games of the 2008 season for the Giants, but during the next two games he recorded the first two sacks of his NFL career. He ended the season with 19 tackles and 3.5 sacks. After the 2010 season, he became an unrestricted free agent. However, he was re-signed on August 5, 2011. On September 11, 2011, Tollefson started his season with the Giants in place of Justin Tuck against the Washington Redskins, recording