Michael Irvin will host a cable television reality show this spring during which 12 “football neophytes” will compete for a spot on the Dallas Cowboys’ opening 80-player training camp roster.

The show’s lineup will include six receivers and six defensive backs. It will air on Spike TV during the spring.

“I’ve been waiting to do this since the first time I watched American Idol,” Irvin said Thursday. “ American Idol is about singing and dreams. This is about football and dreams.”

Irvin said the concept for the show is his. He will serve as an executive producer for the show, which does not yet have a name. Irvin is working with 3 Ball Productions, the reality television company responsible for NBC’s The Biggest LoserBiggest Losers.

Irvin says former Cowboys teammates like Deion Sanders and former coaches will appear on the show as will Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who gave his blessing to the project.

“Nobody believes more in dreams than Jerry Jones,” Irvin said.

Spike is available in 97.7 million television homes. That’s about the same number of homes as ESPN.

Cowboys spokesman Rick Dalrymple emphasized the show will be completed long before the team reports to training camp in San Antonio.

“It’s kind of an extension of when the Cowboys used to have open public tryouts at Texas Stadium and sign two or three individuals to take to training camp,” Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple said reports that Jones will serve as a guest judge and help select the finalist are inaccurate.

“This is nothing like Hard Knocks was last summer,” Irvin said. “That was invasive. We are not. We won’t change one thing the Cowboys do to prepare for the season except we’ll find them a player.”

(source)

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