Michael Irvin’s “4th and Long” premieres Monday (sneak peek video)

by PegNews wire

"4th and Long" premieres tonight on Spike TV at 9 p.m. CST. The reality show pits six wide receivers and six defensive backs against each other for one spot on the Dallas Cowboys' bench.

The show's host is a former Dallas Cowboys player himself, Michael Irvin. Helping Irvin up the drama are Joe Avezzano, Cowboys special teams coach from 1990 to 2002, and Bill Bates, Dallas safety from 1983 to 1997. Avezzano and Bates will handle the wide receivers and defensive backs, respectively. Jerry Jones makes some appearances, shaking hands with Irvin and telling him to "Give me a ball player."

While the new Cowboys stadium makes a few flyover cameos, the glut of action takes place in the nearly otherwise defunct Cotton Bowl. The players not only train and puke there, they live in the locker rooms.

The contestants span from former college players who were either injured or partied too much to arena football athletes looking for a place to play after the league disbanded. Two of the defensive backs have local ties: Erick Jackson, 24, Duncanville High School and the University of Texas, and Eddie Moten, 27, Lancaster High School and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

In addition to the drama implied in typical football workouts and the competition itself is the natural hate-affair between WRs and DBs. The best quote of the preview is when DB contestant Donte Gamble says, "I don't like wide receivers, man. It's a beautiful thing because I get to get out there on that field and destroy a guy without (pause) going to jail..." Less inspired is the line Irvin uses when a player is kicked off the island: "You're Cut."

Posted by Erin