FirstCuts: Jason Taylor On Dancing With The Stars

By Chris Littmann
Sports don’t start and end with a referee’s whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.
I’m by no means a fan of reality shows or even the contest shows. I tend to represent that group of about three people that don’t watch American Idol or Project Runway. (We have meetings and shake our fists at the sky for Arrested Development being taken off the air while grumbling about no one watching The Wire or Friday Night Lights.)
In any event, ABC has found another athlete willing to make a fool of themselves on Dancing With The Stars this season. Actually, they’ve found three, although I’ll focus on mocking Jason Taylor, because Kristi Yamaguchi and Monica Seles don’t present the same comical image on the dance floor.
Taylor, one year removed from the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award, will try to cut a rug against other “celebs.” He joins a pretty accomplished list of athletes and sports-related figures who have participated up to this point: Evander Holyfield, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bruce Jenner, Kenny Mayne, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Clyde Drexler, Mark Cuban, Laila Ali, Helio Castroneves, Apolo Ohno, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith. (List from IMDB.com).
We mention all of this because it gives us the opportunity to remind people that Emmitt Smith was on the show. For all the ripping he talk about his ESPN performance, can we really let this slide?

Wow. And you thought seeing him in a Cardinals jersey was tough.
Hat tip to SPORTSbyBROOKs for finding this one. Check out USA Today for this season’s full lineup.↵