The 2012 season of Dancing With The Stars premier aired on March 19th. Celebrity athlete Donald Driver was one of the better dancers. But who is he and why is he famous? Here’s the inside scoop about the football player, how he performed on his first night of the reality television competition, and what kinds of activities he does for charity when he’s not busy playing ball or at dance practice.
Donald Driver, a football player for the Green Bay Packers, overcame being homeless as a child and went on to become a Super Bowl Champion. Trading football cleats in for his dancing shoes so he can compete for the famous Mirror Ball Trophy on Dancing With The Stars 2012, Driver says he has been watching the show since Evander Holyfield was on the first season.
Now that he’s an adult, the famous humanitarian gives back to his community through the Donald Driver Foundation. Always a good spot, the charitable celeb’s foundation helps children and the homeless.
Now, he and dance pro partner Peta Murgatroyd hope he’ll be able to call himself a dance champ as well as a football legend. Donald and Peta scored the dancing equivalent of a touchdown their first night on the show by the sound of the live studio audience’s applause.
Dancing the Cha Cha Cha, she looked amazingly stylish and fit (even for a dance pro celeb). Wearing a very revealing gold mini-dress, it was hard to watch him instead of the blonde — but man, when you did notice him, he was moving on the dance floor incredibly well. Team Driving Miss Peta featuring Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd will be one red-hot dance team to watch!
Show co-host Tom Bergeron rightly said, “That did not feel like week one” and the crowd agreed. He got one of the longest standing ovations the show has seen so far.
Carrie Ann Inaba (who, for the record, happens to be a huge cat lover) was not catty in her critique of the star celebs dance routine at all. In fact, she was all praise for the crowd pleaser (saying it did not matter if there was not much Cha Cha in the dance routine because the number was so much fun to watch).
Len Goodman said he had attitude and flair, but noted he lost timing because of his enthusiasm.
Bruno Tonioli looked like he could barely contain his drool, but he still teased him for being a rooster. He asked the celebrity athlete to refine his moves for next week — but really… he’s an early standout to win the competition and Tonioli seemed pleased to recognize him for it.
Telling Brooke Burke he wants to be a copycat of Maksim and Derek, the judges scored him 7 – 7 – 7.
Perhaps he should have tried to aim higher by saying he simply wants to dance better than past winners.
To vote for Donald and Peta dial 1-800-868-3403.