Survivor: Nicaragua Roundtable - Part Two
By BOP Staff
September 16, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Kim Hollis: Survivor has generally existed without star power. This season, we have the much-publicized appearance of Super Bowl and College National Championship-winning coach (and NFL analyst/celebrity spokesperson) Jimmy Johnson as one of the contestants. How do you think this is going to play out?
Bruce Hall: I know it is a serious question, and having never watched even one full episode of Survivor I may not be the best man to ask. But I feel compelled to point out that the promos for this represent the first time I have ever, EVER seen Jimmy Johnson's hair out of place. Really. It is.
More seriously, even though I haven't watched the show to any degree I have been a big admirer of Johnson since his days at Miami and have had the opportunity to know more than a few football coaches in my time. To be successful in that line of work it takes much more than acumen with X's and O's, but it takes an innate ability to lead people not just by example but by sheer force of will. At no level is it more evident than college. Most college football players were among the best athletes in the country at the high school level and are used to being treated with reverence. Add the fact that they're away from home for the first time, plus standard issue teenage behavior patterns, and it takes a lot of skill and creativity to keep the kids focused and obedient. This is leaving out the administrative half of being a college football coach, which often takes up as much or more of your time than football.
My point is that Johnson is almost unparalleled in his ability to lead and inspire and I am admittedly curious as to when he will choose to fall back upon these attributes and when he will let his considerable charisma do the talking. This might be an unlikely environment for him to shine but he's a resourceful and cunning person and as someone who's never had an interest in the show this might be enough to tempt me to watch.
Jim Van Nest: I touched on this earlier, but a lengthy run by Johnson is imperative to this season even thinking about competing with HvV. I've watched some of the videos of Jimmy and he is not just a random celebrity coming on this show. He's an obsessive fan of the show who knows how to play the game. Further, he knows what someone of his stature is going to face. He knows that he's in the hole before the game even begins.
I think there are a couple things he HAS to do in order to have a deep run in this game. First, be an ordinary guy. Don't try to run the show. This will be hard for him as it's all he's ever done. But he has to force Coach Johnson into the background to start off or he's an early boot. Second, he needs to really focus on his incredible motivational skills. If he can help motivate his team to a couple early wins, they may see him as instrumental in their success and despite his money an fame, they may feel his motivation is worth keeping him around. Finally, play on the celebrity if at all possible. There is bound to be at least a couple people in awe of him. I know I would be. If he can find those people quickly and align with them, he could be poised for a deep run into this game.
Kim Hollis: I do think that Johnson is interesting for the show for a number of reasons. First of all, it does give CBS some very organic marketing opportunities, as they have football on Sunday and can play up his appearance during promos for as long as he appears on the show.
As far as allies, I can totally see people from all sides wanting to ally with him. Because he's rich, if you can take him to the final vote, people might not give him the money. Also, given that he's a motivator (and I'd also say coaches are good manipulators), he can probably get some people to do things they might not expect. I actually think the *only* reason he might be an early target is if he's overbearing and annoying. I can totally see people wanting to have him around for the star factor as well as the "I want to beat this guy" factor.
He looks pretty skinny to me when he's sitting at the commentator's desk during NFL Sunday. I have a feeling he's done pretty well.
David Mumpower: I think that the casting of Jimmy Johnson is the most interesting thing Survivor has done since its inception. If we look back at the casting of Gary Hogeboom, this was a subtle choice and he went out of his way to remain unknown. Despite the fact that he hadn't played in an NFL game since 1989 and was not a famous athlete who got a lot of endorsements, people still figured out who he was.
The producers of the show were so pleased with this result that they specifically went on a search for an NFL player's wife who could provide a different take on this type of celebrity. They found a person beyond their wildest dreams in Tamara-Johnson George, a music artist with a couple of number one singles to her credit. Since she was part of a girl group, she still was not overtly recognizable. She eventually decided the best way to win over her younger male tribe mates was to play on their fanboy instincts by telling them that her husband was Eddie George, a guy who had what was in my estimation a Hall of Fame football career. All of the guys who followed football went nuts and her place in the tribe was secured long term. That's what celebrity does to many ordinary people. They want to be around it as much as possible.
Ergo, the casting of Jimmy Johnson this season is a masterstroke. Bruce, who has never watched an episode of the show, has touched on the why of it. This is a leader of men as well as someone who has one of the most recognizable faces (and hairstyles) in the world. He single-handedly redefined the NFL Draft process, he is seen on Fox Sports every afternoon during the winter and he has been a winner in every aspect of his life thus far. Touching on that last statement a bit more, consider this. Jimmy Johnson was an all-conference player on a national championship football team. Then, he became the head coach of a national championship college football team before becoming a two time Super Bowl champion as an NFL head coach. I haven't fact checked this yet, but I struggle to name anyone else who played for a national champion, coached a national champion and then coached a professional team champion in the NFL. What he has accomplished in his sport is the stuff of myth and legend. The question is how will he integrates his personality into the cast of Survivor.
Jim has posited that Johnson will have to dial down his personality in order to succeed on the show. I don't agree with him on the point. Ordinarily, I am a fervent believer that strong leaders, particularly alpha males, need to step back a bit and make themselves less threatening to the competition. This will not be the case with Jimmy Johnson and the older tribe. Everyone there will know who he is, what he has accomplished a life and what his presence could potentially mean to the group. It's the same situation as with Boston Rob last season. Sure, some people may have been jealous of him, but all of the Villains recognized that he made them a lot better and that they needed him. As such, he was left alone until such a point as the minority alliance in his tribe had no choice but to attempt an overthrow. Rob had cleverly created a firewall to protect himself, but he was a victim of back luck in that scenario.
His elimination prior to the merge notwithstanding, Rob was clearly the leader of his group and he was allowed to acquire enough power that he easily could have made it to the final vote if not for a few bad breaks. Jimmy Johnson needs to play this season in the same way. It would be disingenuous of him to step back and let other, inferior leaders assert control of the group dynamic and if he cannot see that for himself, I'm relatively certain that his tribe mates will point it out to him. Everyone should want to align with him, because they know that there is something about him that makes him a winner in everything he does in life. Can he actually win this competition? Probably not. Everyone knows he doesn't need the money and that's problematic. Can he make a deep run in the game and thereby once again prove himself to be one of the most engaging competitors of the past century? Hell yes.
The primary point about Jimmy Johnson's presence on Survivor this season is this. On paper, a game that skews toward strong physical performances should heavily favor a younger group over older competitors. This is the explanation as to why in the twenty season history of the show, only one person older than 41 has won. Since the casting department is unlikely to find 10 Bob Crowleys, steps had to be taken to restore the competitive balance. Jimmy Johnson does just this, giving the elder group an achiever who can lead a naturally disadvantaged group to perform better as a sum total than their individual parts should allow. Whether they like it or not, all of the members of the older tribe have to recognize this on a fundamental level. They need Jimmy Johnson and if they were to do something as foolish as voting him out early on, this is going to be a very dull season prior to the merge.
Daron Aldridge: Being from Dallas Cowboys land (but not a fan at all), I can attest that Jimmy Johnson is deified here and if someone comes out as a fan of the Cowboys, then Jimmy will have a blindly loyal recruit/ally right there. But as is the danger with celebrities, the money factor will probably come into play at least when it comes down to the finals and he may get ousted. This is provided he makes it that long, which I think he can as long as the team recognizes what they have in him as a leader and for the many reasons David mentioned. I do like the idea that taking him to the end has the built-in “he doesn’t need the money” argument but that didn’t work out too well for Russell last season sitting between two previous winners. Of course, Jimmy isn’t a egomaniacal troll with the social skills of the Unabomber.
Another big factor beyond the celebrity/wealth is that he is oldest of the olds. At 67, Jimmy is the oldest competitor that we have seen in a long time and I hope that he doesn’t fall victim to an injury-related elimination. But as a student/avid fan of Survivor, I suspect that Jimmy is smart enough to know whether or not his body can take the toll of the game.
(Because all things Cowboys have been shoved down my throat for years, I would like to clarify that the only other coach to win a college and NFL championship is Barry Switzer with the Sooners and the Cowboys. I feel dirty for even knowing that.)
David Mumpower: Since Switzer also played at Arkansas and they didn't win a national championship while he was there, that means Johnson is the only guy in the history of football to win a national title as a player and a head coach as well as be the head coach of a Super Bowl champion. How remarkable.
Daron Aldridge: Fair point. I don't feel so dirty now other than for not catching the "player" part.
Jim Van Nest: David, I think I may not have been clear with my thoughts on Jimmy pushing his "Coach-ness" to the background. In one of the videos, Johnson says it himself. He's used to being large and in charge. Someone screws up in practice and Jimmy would cut him and keep his paycheck. THAT'S the attitude Jimmy can ill afford to bring with him to Survivor, for a couple reasons. The first is that, celebrity or not, you can't take that attitude in this game without suffering the consequences. The second is that in football, Johnson was ALWAYS the smartest man in the room. I'd suggest that on the Fox shows he's STILL the smartest man in the room from a football standpoint. What we don't know is how Survivor-smart he is.
Boston Rob could be that leader and people would (sometimes literally) bow down to him because he was always the smartest man in the room. We've yet to see is Jimmy will be the smartest Survivor in the room the way Rob was. If Jimmy can prove to be as savvy at this game as he is/was with football, then I agree with David that he needs to grab the reins of this tribe and lead them toward the Ring. If he turns out to be too old or to just not have the superior skills that Rob had, he's best off to be a worker bee and not try to tell people what to do.