Antonio Brown Dances His Way onto DWTS

via Wetpaint

In an otherwise footbally type article on the free agency signing of Ladarius Green, Bob Labriola of Steelers.com addresses the upcoming appearance of Antonio Brown on Dancing With the Stars:

* Didja hear Antonio Brown was picked for Season 22 of “Dancing With The Stars?” I’m guessing you have, and make no mistake, that is exactly why ABC picked AB. All due respect to Brown’s swivel hips and willingness to attempt to impale himself on a goalpost for mere entertainment value, it’s because the Pittsburgh Steelers and their players move the needle.

Labriola backed up this assertion with some interesting data points:

The last time the premier episode of a season of “Dancing With The Stars” was viewed by 20-plus million people, Hines Ward was a contestant. The last time a final episode of a season of “Dancing With The Stars” was viewed by 20-plus million people, Hines Ward was a contestant. The last time a full season of “Dancing With The Stars” finished among the top-three shows in the Nielsen ratings, Hines Ward was a contestant.

Back in 2011 I did a whole series on Hines Ward’s tenure on the show, which of course lasted until the end and brought the Mirror Ball to Pittsburgh. The series was a comparison of Ward to one of the previous season’s candidates, Chad Ochocinco, as he was still known. It was fascinating to compare the two, and to note that while Ward was clearly less naturally gifted, as a dancer at least, than Johnson, as I suppose we should now call him, Hines was willing to put in the work, and in the end that made the difference.

So I will be dusting off these notes, which I lovingly kept. (After all, I was so into it I even went and interviewed a ballroom dance instructor for some information I needed.) Naturally I will be breathlessly following AB’s progress, and keeping you all informed. But I will also be comparing him to where Hines was at the same point each week.

It should be pretty interesting, because my guess is that AB is better suited to dancing than Hines. And we all know nobody outworks AB. Even his partner commented on this. So it is, of course, somewhat the luck of the draw as to how well he and his partner click, how good she is at choreographing dances to suit his strengths and minimize his weaknesses, and so on. But it’s hard to imagine that with his million-watt smile, unparalleled work ethic, and fiercely competitive nature, he will be anything but a natural.

I just have to confess to one small hope—that the producers of the show will talk him into a better-looking haircut. The one featured above reminds me rather strongly of the handle on a plastic microwave cover. But maybe that’s just me doing my “Get off my lawn” impression…

While looking for a suitable photo I found a rather hilarious (to a Steelers fan at least) article titled Dancing With the Stars’ Season 22: Who is Antonio Brown?  Here are some choice excerpts:

If you’re not a sports fan you’ll be excused for not recognizing this 27-year-old, but anyone who follows football should know him as a wide receiver and punt returner for the Pittsburgh Steelers; he’s been on the team since being drafted in 2010…

What else is there to know about this talented athlete? Here are a few things we can learn from his social media accounts.

He Already Has a Dance-y Nickname
Apparently he goes by “Tony Toe Tap,” which we’re pretty sure was originally related to football, but now works just as well for dancing. [Did any of you know this? I certainly didn’t, which just goes to show you can always learn something new, even from the most unlikely sources…]
He Has an Amazing Smile
This is going to light up the ballroom for sure!
He’s Super Dedicated
We have a feeling this kind of focus will pay off in the ballroom.
They also link a video of one of his touchdown dances. No one seems to find it discouraging, so I guess that’s okay.
I confidently predict that in two weeks or so all of America (except perhaps Bengals, Ravens and Browns fans) are going to have a crush on AB.

So watch this space next Wednesday for the preliminary article in the series. And go, AB and Sharna!

4 comments

  • cold_old_steelers_fan

    I am happy for him and DWTS but I would have been happier if he was spending time working on football related stuff and doing something that was less competitive (so he can keep those competitive thoughts for football) but I am probably being selfish and unrealistic.

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    • I did find myself wondering how this would effect his playing. In theory it should help him be in even better shape and perhaps teach him some new ways to look at things. It didn’t, in the end, do that for Hines, (although he did start that season in terrific shape) but he was already old and slow by then (as opposed to young and slow.) I think (and hopefully it isn’t just wishful thinking) that it will actually be good for AB to get his mind off of football for a while.

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  • Transferable skills, COSF. Dancing will help fluidity, focus, timing, and working with someone else. Memorizing a new dance every week involves timing, focus, repetition, ability to adapt, ability to think ahead.

    All of that will help a WR get better. 🙂

    Like

  • Pingback: The Journey Begins—Antonio Brown on Dancing With the Stars | Going Deep:

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