The Power Of Jacoby Jones And Being An Underdog On Dancing With The Stars
Awww, didn’t these two look fabulous at the Dancing With The Stars 300th Episode party (Good morning, Jim! 🙂 ))?? Speaking of this team, there is a fun article at the Washington Post about Jacoby and him being the underdog to win Dancing With The Stars Season 16. However, he has some supporters who say don’t count Jacoby out just yet and why. Read this and see what you think. I love this and couldn’t agree more….
That makes Jones and his partner, professional ballroom dancer Karina Smirnoff, the underdogs. But like his scrappy football team, prone to heroic comebacks and close calls, Jones just might be able to pull it off. And he has some enthusiastic supporters back home who agree.
Fellow wide receiver Torrey Smith, a Stafford High School and University of Maryland graduate, flew to California along with his fiancée to watch Jones rhumba on Prom Night. “I think Jacoby and I might have just completed the first Chest Bump on #DWTS,” Smith tweeted.
First chest bump, maybe, although Jones is hardly the first football player to find success on the show. Retired running back Emmitt Smith won Season 3, and former Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward took home the mirror ball in 2011. What’s different about Jones, however, is that he’s so much taller — 6-feet-2 and 220 pounds — and at 28, he’s still in his prime, football-wise.
On the show, judge Bruno Tonioli has called Jones “a stallion at the peak of his power” and praised his recent paso doble as straight out of a Quentin Tarantino film. The effusive Italian is given to hyperbole, but professional dancers are also impressed with what Jones has accomplished in just three months.
“He is just so amazing,” said Alicia Graf Mack, a Columbia native — and huge Ravens fan — who is a star in Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. “It’s always surprising to me when people who are so tall and big can move that quickly. That’s why [Jones] is the talent that he is for the Ravens. He has the power, but he can run quickly, and he has fast footwork.”
Graf Mack made a guest appearance on “Dancing With the Stars,” and is all for programs that bring dance to the masses, even if it’s just a minute and a half of choreography that’s mostly for show. In Jones’s case, there’s the added value of seeing a record-holding athlete say on national television that dance rehearsal is harder than football practice.
“To see a man like that move so gracefully, there’s a lot of value there,” Graf Mack said. “He sees dance as competitive and athletic, and not something that takes away from his masculinity, and that’s important.”
Whether that story line resonates with the people who pick up the phone and vote for their favorite dancer Monday night is another question, but Graf Mack is optimistic.
“There’s the appeal of seeing a guy who has never danced before,” she said. “The American public likes to see the underdog rise to the top. As we all know, Jacoby Jones knows how to perform in a clutch situation. I think my Ravens guy is going to come through, definitely.”
Pictures of Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff courtesy of Zimbio Pictures. You know where to go to find more. 😉
I love Jacoby and I do think he’s an underdog in that all kinds of people say all 3 women are better dancers than he is. (I LOVE his dancing) But I think the article was inaccurate, Kellie did NOT win AI, and I think she’s also an underdog this season in the sense that people (the judges?)think she started out good and don’t really seem to be acknowledging her hard work and amazing improvement. Also, I don’t personally think Aly’s gymnastics gives her any bigger edge than Jacoby’s football experience…both very hard working athletes who come prepared to be coached and are very fit.
Indeed it is a good morning! 🙂 You know what I like, Vogue! lol Great article as well. Awesome that his teammates have been in the audience to support him.
I love Jacoby and I think his chemistry with Karina is great (no I’m not shipping like some people on FB lol). I have noticed that Aly is all over the place doing interviews this week. Kellie was supposedly scheduled for AH and instead Aly was on….I know it might be a stretch, but it made me think that perhaps Aly was the real bottom two with Ingo last week.
It appears that Jacoby’s freestyle will include tap dancing and possibly kids….that’ll be nice.
Or perhaps, like Melissa said, the media and the narrative by the judges is being set to justify her beating Jacoby AND Kellie. It’s a very real possibility.
I know 🙁 I have voted for Jacoby because I honestly didn’t think he’d beat Zendaya or Kellie in fan votes….he runs hot ‘n cold with football fans (except Ravens fans lol).
IMHO I don’t think Aly is a strong dancer and hasn’t produced the “WOW” factor, like Kellie has.
Tap would be fun! Loved when Derek showed off those skills.
Aly has great agents. She has the same ones as Phelps so her people,will get her everywhere. They snagged her an endorsement deal first out of the fierce five. But I fear Aly is pulling in the votes. But here is hoping she is goes fourth bc she is the weakest dancer left.
It is strange though how much the judges overscore and overpraise her I feel it is fishy. I think her freestyle will get a 30. All energy and tricks. But since Zendaya is doing a samba, tough to overscore Aly when Zendaya dances the same.
I wish we knew what the “judges choice” dance was for Jacoby. I feel like it will be very telling of TPTB intentions whether its latin vs. ballroom. With Z and Aly both getting the samba, its clear where tptb want the points to go, especially when CAI just wrote a blog that Z’s samba was in her top 10 favorite dances ever on the show. Kellie has quickstep that I think she got a 29 on the first time around.
I have always felt that Len was not a fan of Jacoby, so it will be interesting to see what the judges have chosen for him.
I have a feeling the judges scoring on Monday night will be “fishy” regardless of what couple we’re talking about.
Sandy, I agree Len is not a fan of Jacoby, but then I don’t believe he’s been a fan of any of the footballers on the show — even the ones who’ve won. Their body type doesn’t suit him, and he definitely doesn’t like their often huge and dedicated fan bases because those fans keep the big guys in often at the expense of the good female celebs with the slender, dancer’s bodies that he really admires.
@sheery like you I have been voting for Jacoby all along. I also have been voting for Kellie. I don’t think Jacoby can be compared to the rest of the football players that have won this show. He was new to the Ravens and did wonderful things this season, but look what happened when he was with his previous team and how hard it was for him just to walk the streets because he made a crucial mistake that cost them a couple of crucial games. Donald, Hines and Emmitt were at the end of their career or already retired. They had already earned the respect of football fans no matter which team you may be rooting for.
I just know that both Jacoby and Kellie are the ones that make me want to watch this season. I don’t dislike Aly or Zandaya, but I never look forward to what they are dancing. It’s jmho. I didn’t like hearing that she was asking her fans to set up many accounts to get more votes. With all her Twitter followers and if only a fraction do that I feel like without a doubt she would win.
Jacoby just started Twitter before the season so certainly isn’t going to get votes by that method. I plan on voting for Jacoby and even though my small amount of votes won’t make a dent compared to what she has asked for I would love to see Jacoby beat her out. Not saying it to be mean it’s just the way I feel.
I don’t use Twitter so therefore have not really felt part of this season because so many things done were based on Twitter. I don’t think it is fair to people like myself who have no desire to use it. I feel like they don’t care about those of us who have watched from the beginning and had to be part of the good ratings that they use to get. We may not be in their desired age group, but myself and others who are over that desired age HAD to contribute to their overall ratings. Since they are not concerned about me or any other fan that may have no interest in signing up for Twitter then they will be losing a devoted fan in me next season if they continue on the same path. JMHO
I don’t know Cidra, I thought Len warmed up to Donald by seasons end. But Jacoby on the other hand, the first week he performed Len’s seemed mortified.
It’s possible, Sandy. Len did start saying nicer things to Donald toward the end, but Donald was the last celeb to get a “10 from Len”. For me, I’m never quite sure about Len’s late season conversions. As someone pointed out on another topic, when the winner’s announced, the Stooges always want to end up looking like they knew what they were doing and “got it right”. Maybe Len realized (or a little bird told him) Donald was running away with the viewer votes and he better hop on the train or look foolish. Maybe I’m so jaded at this point that I don’t believe anything any of the Stooges say or do. *sigh*