DWTS Season 23 Calvin Johnson On What Dancing Has Been Like Compared To Football And More

It’s fascinating when you think of how football and dancing can have so much in common. Calvin Johnson talked with the Detroit Free Press about it this week and how he and Lindsay have been rehearsing for his footwork. However for week 3 on Dancing With The Stars, Calvin will have to get in frame for their Viennese Waltz. Read on for more…

This Wednesday, the dance duo was planning to board a flight to Detroit around 6 a.m. – roughly 8 hours after Tuesday’s show – and head to the studio upon landing for rehearsals.

Johnson said that some of his football skills apply directly to ballroom dance. “I think that the footwork can correlate. I actually brought a footwork ladder into the dance studio and Lindsay actually was keeping up with me on some of the drills I was teaching her.”

But his amazing reach and range on the field, which ESPN’s “Sport Science” once calculated gave him the ability cover the equivalent of a two-car garage from a standing position? “That’s totally different,” he said. “Football is a more violent sport. This is really all about control. You want to be kind of graceful with it.”

Control is one area that the 6-foot-5 Johnson is working on improving, according to Arnold. “He has long legs, so we’re trying to make sure it looks like he’s controlling everything that he does. He definitely got so much better. There’s still room for improvement and that’s what we need to work on this week,” she said.

“We have a Viennese waltz (next week,) so we’re back in frame again. I think it’s really important for him to be smooth and to look very elegant and kind of show that different side.”

Is Johnson scared of any particular dance coming up, say, the Viennese waltz? “I mean, I have to be honest, because I don’t even know the names (of the dances) before I hear them,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just taking it as it comes, just learning new steps every day.”

This week, Johnson’s parents visited the show. “My mom, she’ll just say that anything I try to do, I do well,” he said. As for his father, “He was tickled. … He would never have expected me to be dancing, period. He’s laughing at me having a good time and probably learning some dance moves.”

Johnson sees his competition not as past NFL players like Emmitt Smith, Hines Ward and Donald Driver, each of whom won the show’s coveted mirror ball trophy.

“There’s a lot of past NFL stars that have done well on the show. but I’m kind of in the now,” he said. “I have some great competition, especially in (Olympic gold medalist) Laurie (Hernandez) and Val (Chmerkovskiy). That’s some tough competition. She already has the moves of a dancer.”

Added Megatron, “I’m the only one in my way right now. If I can just do what Lindsay’s telling me to do, be sharp and make it look good, we can make it all the way.”

To read the full article, see Detroit Free Press. Also, if you haven’t read Lindsay’s interview with ET Online yet, it’s a must read too at this link.