24. NFL player Kurt Warner (Season 11, 5th Place)
Warner legitimately looked like he was having fun out there. He may have also benefited from being in the same season as Rick Fox and not looking nearly as stiff.
23. Olympian Maurice Greene (Season 7, 5th Place)
Greene brought the same gracefulness and agility he showed on the track to the dance floor. While he rarely wowed, he kept his head above water. That is, until a disastrous final week when both of his dances received the lowest scores on the night.
22. Soccer player Hope Solo (Season 13, 4th Place)
Not bad for a goalie. Hope did well and made for a feisty pairing with Maksim Chmerkovskiy, but eventually ran out of room against better competition.
21. Ice dancer Charlie White (Season 18, 5th Place)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglBvwWN3MU
For someone whose job title has dancer in it, we’d have thought he’d make it further. White was actually the frontrunner in the first couple episodes, but faded back into the pack by the end.
20. Rodeo cowboy Ty Murray (Season 8, 4th Place)
Ty surprised a lot of people and made it pretty far during this season, even if his scores were rarely near the top of the leaderboard.
19. NFL player Chad Ochocinco (Season 10, 4th Place)
Chad got pretty far, so he must have been doing something right. But he also rarely had a high score. His athleticism carried him pretty far.
18. NFL player Jerry Rice (Season 2, 2nd Place)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0SUUFlbZ-Y
Rice was the first to prove that athletes would be able to hold their own on the show. He probably wouldn’t last as long in later seasons, but he wasn’t all that bad either. Part of his appeal was how he opened up his personality in a way most never saw on the football field.
17. Gymnast Nastia Liukin (Season 20, 4th Place)
One of the better dancers on the season, Liukin ended up garnering the top score in five different weeks, including the week she was eliminated.
16. Gymnast Alexandria Raisman (Season 16, 4th Place)
No surprise that gymnasts performed well on the program and Raisman was a prime example. Her strength was a huge… strength for lifts and power moves, and she had the high score on three different occasions. The final week score was good, just not good enough.
15. NFL player Jacoby Jones (Season 16, 3rd Place)
One of the top performers that season, Jones had a so-so start but quickly excelled, earning top scores in two different weeks. Unlike some of the previous NFL players on the list, he brought some great moves and a lot of energy. He just got out-danced in the finale.
14. Boxer Laila Ali (Season 4, 3rd Place)
She wasn’t The Greatest, but Ali came close. The fighter earned the top score five times and was only four points off the winner in the finale.
13. Professional wrestler Stacy Keibler (Season 2, 3rd Place)
Keibler’s legs helped her stand out amongst the competition and she actually was one of the favorites headed into the finale. Despite an overall score that was just one point less than the winner, she finished in third place.
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