Pros vs. Joes is an American physical reality game show that aired on Spike from 2006 to 2010. The show featured male amateur contestants (the "Joes") matching themselves against professional athletes (the "Pros"; mostly of retired male and female professional athletes) in a series of athletic feats related to the expertise sport of the Pro they are facing. For its first three seasons, the show was hosted by Petros Papadakis. In the last two seasons, it was co-hosted by Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer. The first two seasons were filmed at Carson, California's Home Depot Center, which was referenced in aerial shots. Repeats can currently be seen on the El Rey Network.
Professional participants
Season One Each of the first nine episodes of Pros vs. Joes consisted of a team of five professional athletes, distinguished by their uniform color on the show. Each team, other than the Red Team, appeared in two episodes. A special, "all-star", six-member Orange Team was put together for the season finale.
Red Team Bill Goldberg, NFL / WCW / WWE Matt Williams, MLB Dennis Rodman, NBA Jim McMahon, NFL Jerry Rice, NFL
Blue Team Muggsy Bogues, NBA Jennie Finch, Softball Bo Jackson, NFL / MLB Dan O'Brien, Olympic Decathlon Bill Romanowski, NFL
Yellow Team Kevin Greene, NFL Alexi Lalas, MLS Misty May, Volleyball Xavier McDaniel, NBA Dave Stewart, MLB
Green Team Morten Andersen, NFL Clyde Drexler, NBA Gary Hall Jr., Olympic Swimming Rebecca Lobo, WNBA John Rocker, MLB
Purple Team Brandi Chastain, Soccer / WUSA / WPS Darren Daulton, MLB Justin Gatlin, Track Herschel Walker, NFL / USFL Dominique Wilkins, NBA
Orange "All-Star" Team
Winner: Charlie Brenneman
Xavier McDaniel & Clyde Drexler, Basketball John Rocker & Darren Daulton, Baseball Bill Goldberg & Kevin Greene, Football
Season Two Each of the second-season episodes of Pros vs. Joes consisted of a team of four professional athletes, distinguished by their uniform color on the show. Unlike the first season, returning teams wore different colored uniforms upon their return. Like the previous season, the teams on the season opener and finale wore red and orange uniforms respectively. The Season Two winner was US Army Veteran SGT Jay McKeown.
Red Team Jose Canseco, MLB Randy Couture, Mixed martial arts Michael Irvin, NFL Kevin Willis, NBA
Purple Team Will Clark, MLB Tim Hardaway, NBA Claude Lemieux, NHL Kordell Stewart, NFL
Green Team - Winner - Rodeny Williams Vince Coleman, MLB Eric Dickerson, NFL Roy Jones Jr., Boxing Kevin Willis, NBA
Teal/Gold Team Cobi Jones, MLS Andre Reed, NFL Darryl Strawberry, MLB Spud Webb, NBA
Blue Team / Burgundy Team - Winner - Jackson Wright Rob Dibble, MLB Andre Rison, NFL Robby Ginepri, pro tennis ATP Rik Smits, NBA
Yellow Team Kordell Stewart, NFL Will Clark, MLB Grant Fuhr, NHL Tom Chambers, NBA
Light Blue Team (The New Yorkers) Wade Boggs, MLB Mark Jackson, NBA John Starks, NBA Dave Winfield, MLB
Orange "Allstar" Team (Finale) Winner - Jay McKeown Randall Cunningham, NFL Tim Hardaway, NBA Kevin Willis, NBA Bruce Smith, NFL Roy Jones Jr., pro Boxing Randy Couture, Mixed martial arts
Season Three For Season Three, the format was changed to a "Last Man Standing" format, akin to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament with regionals held at the now demolished Miami Orange Bowl, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, where the finals were also held. The format now featured eight "Joes" in the opening round that tests them in a contest that will eliminate two of the Joes from contest. Those six remaining Joes were then ranked from one through six with the top seed taking on number six, number two against number five and number three against number four in a home sport of one of the pros, with the top two seeds choosing from the three pros. The winners advance to overtime, but now includes a bench where the Joes change from one uniform into another. Again the fastest among the three advanced to the finals. Gabriel Canape, a wireless rep from Lebanon, Missouri, was the winner.
As in past seasons, the pros are designated by the color of their uniforms.
Green Team (South Regional I) Jimmy Smith, football Kurt Angle, Olympic and Pro Wrestling (TNA) Kendall Gill, basketball
Sudden death: Wrestling battle royal
Joes: Eddie Dubose, Brent Allen, Jason Vogel, Matt Hill, Dallas Robinson, Steve Ruff
Winner: Jason Vogel
Purple Team (Northeast Regional I) Ricky Williams, football Arturo Gatti, boxing Charles Oakley, basketball
sudden death: Punt Return for TD
Joe: "Iron" Mike Hall, Robert Foster, Mark Rohling, Donnie Frazier, Faheem Hammett, and Kevin Witt
Winner: Donnie Frazier (Hall gave it to him)
Light Blue Team (Central Regional I) Kenny Anderson, basketball Joe Carter, baseball Raghib Ismail, football
Sudden Death: rebounding
Joes: Jay Williams, Micheal Martin, Chris Rich, Tony Railing, Derek Schaefer, Will Hunter
Winner: Derek Schaefer
Red Team (Northeast Regional II) Jessie Armstead, football Derrick Coleman, basketball Marty McSorley, ice hockey
Sudden Death: onside kicks
Joes: Mike Kotsch, Pablo Healing, Rahul Soni, Jermaine Reid, Joe Goodwin, John Grkovic
Winner: Joe Goodwin
Dark Green Team (West Regional I) Warren Moon, football Nick Van Exel, basketball Al Leiter, baseball
Sudden Death: TD Returns
Joes: Terrius Moseby, Dave Hubert, Dan Falkner, Jerry Lehman, Carvel Gardner, David Ortiz Jr
Winner: David Ortiz Jr
Royal Blue Team (South Regional II) Christian Okoye, football Paul Coffey, ice hockey Dan Majerle, basketball
Sudden Death: scoop and score
Joes: Clayton Monte, Greg Macaluso, Brian Peters, Mark Kilibarda, Art Miller, Devon Tilly
Winner: Clayton Monte
Yellow Team (West Regional II) John Randle, football John Franco, baseball Mitch Richmond, basketball
Sudden Death: intercept the ball
Joes: Dion Santo, Clarence Chaney, Adam Wasserman, Justin Simonsen, Micheal Stange, Trent Madsen
Winner: Trent Madsen
Gold Team (Central Regional II) Brady Anderson, baseball Sean Elliott, basketball Jeff George, football
Sudden Death: strip the dummy
Joes: Red Simmons, Gabriel Canape, Cory Driggs, Cakvin Lafiton, Tim Fritz, Kirby Sykes
Winner: Gabriel Canape
Purple Team (Semi-Final) Rod Woodson, football Antonio Davis, basketball Pernell Whitaker, boxing
Winner Gabe canape
Maroon Team (Finals) Jamal Anderson, football Allan Houston, basketball Bob Sapp, MMA/ football
Winner Gabe Canape.
Season Four: Pros vs. Joes: All Stars For the fourth season, which premiered April 27, 2009 at 11 pm ET/PT, the new hosts are FOX Sports NFL Sunday regulars Michael Strahan and Jay Glazer, and is titled "Pros vs. Joes All Stars". In addition, the format changed to a 3-on-3 competition between teams made up of three pros and three joes in three separate skill events and an end game between the teams. If the Joes beat the Pros, they get $10,000.
Basketball I Shawn Kemp Eddie Jones Ron Harper
Football I Steve McNair Tim Brown Simeon Rice
Basketball II Antoine Walker Alonzo Mourning Robert Horry
Football II Steve McNair Adam "Pacman" Jones Priest Holmes
References
Further reading
External links