Donald Driver discusses being the ‘Dancing with the Stars’ winner

The Times is pleased to have Green Bay Packers wide receiver Donald Driver guest-blogging for us while he competes on “Dancing With the Stars.” Driver, a Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowl player, was named the winner of the competition this week and, as he has throughout the season, answered a few questions from Sports Now editor Houston Mitchell. Here are Driver’s thoughts about winning the competition, which he offered via email.

Q: Champions! Congratulations! Where are you going to put the Mirror-Ball Trophy?

Right on my mantle, next to the Lombardi Trophy!!!

Q: Finally, a 10 from Len. That must have been like winning your own personal Super Bowl.

The 10 from Len was great, but I’d say it’s more like making the Pro Bowl. Winning the Mirror Ball … now that would come close to the Super Bowl.

Q: A lot of people seemed surprised you are a country music fan. Who are some of your favorite country singers?

Cowboy Troy, of course!!

Q: How did you manage to get Cowboy Troy to sing live for you during your freestyle?

I had heard Troy was a huge sports fan and once Peta and I decided we were going to go with the country theme, I knew exactly what we needed to do to put us over the top. We got in touch with him and he moved some things around to make it happen. So thankful he came out, he did an amazing job!

Q: Your freestyle dance was one of the best ever. Did you work longer hours in practice this week to prepare for such an intricate dance?

Oh yeah! We put in 12-hour- plus days to make that all come together. If you screw up once with all those lifts … game over. We worked really hard to make sure we knocked it out of the park Monday night.

Q: What will you miss most about Peta?

We’ll be staying in touch. She’s going to come out to my charity golf outing at the end of June. We won’t be strangers!

Q: You vs. Hines Ward in a dance-off. Who wins?

That’s tough to call! We’ll have to make it happen and find out!

Q: Any last words for the fans who voted for you, and those who followed your blog here?

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!! I couldn’t have done this without you. I love you all! God Bless!

In addition to being the Packers’ all-time leading receiver and a children’s book author, Driver is the founder of the Donald Driver Foundation, which focuses on helping homeless families get back on their feet along with providing educational resources to children in need. You can follow Donald’s “DWTS” journey on his Facebook and Twitter pages.

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