GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Just 12 hours after his "Dancing with the Stars" victory, Packers wideout Donald Driver is receiving another honor: his own day in Wisconsin history.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 is now officially Donald Driver Day. Wis. Gov. Scott Walker posted the proclamation on his Twitter page Wednesday morning with a picture of the announcement.
"With his family and fans in the audience wearing cheese heads ... Driver and his professional dance partner, Peta Murgatroyd, won the coveted mirror ball trophy as voted by viewers and the judges in the 14th season of the ABC network program — 'Dancing With the Stars,' " Walker wrote in the proclamation.
Driver becomes the second Packers player to have his own day in 2012, with NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers being given Dec. 12, 2012 (12/12/12) — based on his jersey No. 12.
Through a combination of scores from the judges and votes from the audience, Driver became the third NFL player to win the dancing competition. Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith won in 2006 and former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward won in 2011.
"I didn't know how I was going to feel until I won, and now, this is amazing," Driver told WISN-TV in Milwaukee after winning. "It took me 13 seasons to win a Super Bowl, but it only took me one season to win a mirror ball, so I'm happy about that."
Driver, 37, has played his entire 13-year career with the Green Bay Packers. Several of his teammates and coaches attended the show in recent weeks, including Rodgers, linebacker Clay Matthews and coach Mike McCarthy.
While the rest of the team participated in the first offseason practice of the year without Driver on Tuesday, their dancing teammate was still on their minds.
"I'm looking for Donald to win tonight," McCarthy said Tuesday. "I thought he was great. I know he's excited about it. I had a chance to communicate with him. But also, he's excited to get back to Green Bay. I think he's in good shape, hopefully. We'll see what happens."
Driver earned his first perfect 30 score of the season on his final performance, one that Matthews described as a "killer freestyle cowboy dance."
"That was pretty good right there," Matthews added. "I know he's got all of Titletown behind him. From what he was able to accomplish on the dance floor, I think he did a pretty good job."
Rodgers took a very active role on Twitter and told Packers fans to vote for Driver as much as possible.
"I voted a bunch of times, so hopefully he can bring that mirror ball back," Rodgers said Tuesday. "It was great to go see him last week. We had a lot of fun, he's done an incredible job with the show, and he's been himself. His personality comes out on that show, and he did a great job."
Driver beat out actor William Levy and singer Katherine Jenkins in the finals.
With speculation rampant all offseason that Driver may not return to the Packers for a 14th season, McCarthy seemed to put an end to that talk on Tuesday.
"I would anticipate he'd be involved in the workouts next week," McCarthy said.
See, even dancing stars with their own day in state history still have to get back to their day job sooner or later.
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