Fulton teach earns spot on Michael Irvin reality TV

Can a Fulton County teacher become a Dallas Cowboy?

We won’t start finding out until Michael Irvin’s Spike TV reality show starts airing next month.

Called “4th and Long,” the show features 12 football dreamers competing for the final spot in Cowboys’ training camp.

Atlanta’s Ahmaad Smith beat out hundreds of hopefuls to get on the show. The Riverwood High grad is a substitute teacher for kids with special needs, and he works nights as a Delta baggage handler. He gets up at 5 a.m. daily to train.

Smith won’t say how far he got in the show, except to say he lasted a while.

The 25-year-old played indoor football, got cut by a CFL team in training camp and watched three opportunities disappear when various leagues folded.

“A lot of people, after they’ve been knocked down so many times, they’d say, ‘I give up,’” said Smith, whose career at Tennessee State was hindered by a knee injury.

“Not me. I can do this. It only takes one [scout] to see you, like you.”

The contestants range in age from 22 to 30. Six are wide receivers and six are defensive backs, like Smith. They include former Division I players, Arena League MVPs and high school All-Americans.

The 10 weekly episodes were taped in Dallas recently. Players lived and trained at the Cotton Bowl.

Irvin, the flamboyant Hall of Fame wideout, hosts the show and serves as one of the judges. Former All-Pro Bill Bates coaches the defensive backs, while former Cowboys assistant coach Joe Avezzano oversees the receivers.

Of course, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones appears throughout the series, along with team legends like Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett. It begins airing May 18.

“Michael Irvin was a real down-to-earth type of dude,” Smith said. “He came in and said, ‘Do your part, I’ll do my part, and the last man standing will get a shot.’”

Smith, a 6-1, 196-pounder, runs the forty-yard dash in 4.48 seconds and can bench 225 pounds 16 times.

He called the show was fun but grueling. In one episode, Irvin drops off the contestants on the interstate and tells them to run the 8.5 miles back to the Cotton Bowl.

“Stuff like that, you really find out who wants to make this dream come true and who’s out there just messing around,” Smith said.

The winner will be the 80th and last player invited to Cowboys’ training camp, which opens July 31.

“I haven’t even told my mom how I did,” Smith said. “All I can say is I was there for an extended period of time.”