New York: Family and friends of an Australian father-of-two are in mourning after he was shot dead when intruders broke into his house in Texas.

Brenton Estorffe, 29, was killed after confronting two people who smashed a window at the back of his home near Houston around midnight on Wednesday local time (Thursday AEDT).

Estorffe grew up on Queensland's Sunshine Coast and travelled to the US to pursue his dream of playing in the National Football League.

His American wife Angeleanna and their two children, aged one and three, were in the house at the time he was killed.