While certain athletes have clearly done well in their dancing because their sport has prepared them for dancing (Ohno and Yamaguchi), most of the athletes on DWTS stay on the show purely due to the popularity accompanying them from their playing days.

Jerry Rice finished second and can't dance at all. Of course, the guy who won that season can't really dance either.

While I'll agree that Emmitt Smith and Warren Sapp displayed some actual skill, their continued stays owed more to the support of NFL fans than to anything else.

There are differing types of athleticism. The weight lifter, the sprinter, the basketball player, and the dancer are all athletes but they're not all the same.



jj