Former NFL star running back Eddie George has a secret passion he wants to share with America: architecture. He signed on to be a judge on a new NBC reality show called American Dream Builders, in which he’ll get to put his Ohio State University landscape architecture degree to good use.
“This opportunity presented itself for me...not only to show the talents of a landscape architect, but also to be creative,” George told the Associated Press at the Television Critics Association Press Tour.
George played in the NFL for nine years with the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. He also won college football’s Heisman Trophy in 1995. On the side though, he had his firm, Edge Group, in Columbus, Ohio. He also earned an MBA at Northwestern University.
American Dream Builders will be hosted by designer Nate Berkus and will judge as well with George and interior decorator Monica Pedersen.
The show involves 12 contestants in two teams who have to renovate a house in each episode. In the finale, the last two contestants will have to redesign two Southern California homes to win a cash prize of $250,000, NBC said in a statement. There’s also an online contest to win a chance for the show’s winner to renovate a viewer’s home.
“It's interesting to see the contestants react to Eddie's judgment week after week, because if they don't get the details right, he notices every time,” Berkus told the AP.
George noted that he has a differing view of renovations from Berkus and Petersen.
“If Eddie can't watch football wherever they put the sofa, he wants to send them home,” Petersen said.
American Dream Builders starts on Sunday, March 23 on NBC.
image: Wikimedia Commons
