‘Dancing with the Stars 16’ spotlight: Jacoby Jones and Karina Smirnoff
Every season on “Dancing with the Stars,” it has become pretty much a tradition for there to be someone associated in some way with professional sports … and the National Football League is one of the biggest repeat offenders. After all, this show has brought us Emmitt Smith, Donald Driver, Hines Ward, Warren Sapp, Kurt Warner, Michael Irvin, and others over the course of the past few years. Now, they have a reigning Super Bowl champion in Jacoby Jones.
What makes Jones’ appearance on the show a little bit interesting is that unlike most of those other athletes mentioned above, he is still in the prime of his career at 28. Therefore, he may be in better shape, but at the same time he is probably risking injury a little bit more given that he has not had as much time to rest as many other football stars to appear on the show. This one will ultimately be rather interesting to watch.
Partner – Karina Smirnoff. Karina has worked with everyone from goofballs to serious athletes before, so while there is nothing extremely notable about this partnership right now, we have a feeling that it will work out without a problem.
Advantages – There’s no question that Jacoby is in great shape, and his athleticism alone will ensure that he is safe for the first few weeks while the weaker dancers are sent packing. In following that up, he also has a loyal following of Baltimore Ravens fans who will be behind him, and appreciate him more than ever thanks to being a key player during the Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
Disadvantages – Are there any with Jacoby? The only serious issue that he faces right now is simply that we as viewers know very little about his personality. If he brings enough humor to go with the competitive energy, he’ll be fine. He just needs to remember not to take the competition too seriously.
Prediction – You may as well chalk Jacoby into the final five now. He’s too athletic to be gone early, and too popular to be a mid-season shocker. We still think that Aly Raisman has this season in the bag, but he or Sean Lowe could be the biggest threats depending on their dance ability to take away the title.
How do you think Jacoby will do this season? Be sure to vote in the poll below, and you can check out all of the promotional photos (with our goofy “analysis” of them) over at the link here.
Photo: ABC