No Favre on ‘Dancing with the Stars’

Despite speculation that Brett Favre would be on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ the cast was announced with no Favre. But there will be one Vikings connection on the show.

With speculation continuing that Brett Favre would continue to drag down his legacy by appearing on the new season of “Dancing With the Stars,” the cast list for this spring was announced Monday. Favre won’t be on the show, but it will have both an NFL connection and a Vikings connection.

Hines Ward, wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers, will be the latest NFL star to join the cast of “DWTS” and there will likely be a Viking in the audience as Kendra Wilkinson, the wife of wide receiver Hank Baskett, will be in the spring 2011 cast.

Baskett spent most of his time with the Vikings inactive and watching from the sidelines.

The rest of the cast includes champion boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, wrestler Chris Jericho, Karate Kid Ralph Macchio, hip-hop star Romeo, swimsuit model Petra Nemcova, talk show host Wendy Williams, “Fat Actress” Kirstie Alley, radio host Mike Catherwood and Disney star Chelsea Kane.

While Favre would have made the cast much more interesting, the Vikings connection to “DWTS” will be there – just not the player many anticipated.

TUESDAY NOTES

It seems clear that one of the byproducts of the expiring CBA is that several veteran players are going to find themselves out of work. Washington released RB Clinton Portis Monday, Kris Jenkins and Vernon Gholston were among four Jets that get the axe and three Bears – DT Tommie Harris, LB Hunter Hillenmeyer and OT Kevin Shaffer – were released by the Bears Monday.

Is Chad Greenway going to be the next franchise player to sign his tag tender by the CBA deadline Thursday night? A third franchised linebacker, Oakland’s Kamerion Wimbley, signed his $10 million tender Monday.

The Vikings stadium plan for Arden Hills in Ramsey County passed its first hurdle Monday night, when the Arden Hills City Council agreed to work with Ramsey County officials as it seeks to be the site the Vikings news stadium at the abandoned munitions plant along I-35. The move is viewed as a positive for the Vikings, who have struggled to get past Square One with the City of Minneapolis for a new stadium plan.

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John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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