Former NFL player Rod Gardner and wife taking on 'The Amazing Race'
The Amazing Race is considered the best reality show on TV. And when the new season premieres next month, it’ll feature a former NFL player and his wife.
Rod Gardner and wife, Leticia, are one of 13 teams who will competing at sites around the world to win the 36th edition of The Amazing Race. The Gardners are the first confirmed team on this season’s show, which premieres March 13 on CBS.
If you’re a fan of Clemson, then you remember Gardner. He played there from 1997-2000 back when Tommy Bowden was the coach and Rich Rodriguez was his offensive coordinator. He set school single-season records for catches, yards and touchdowns. Plus, he was 6-3 and 215 pounds, with 4.48-second speed in the 40-yard dash. Washington used the 15th pick of the 2001 NFL Draft to select Gardner. And the receiver played for six seasons in the league. Washington traded him to the Panthers in 2005. He also did stints with the Packers and Chiefs.
Gardner, at 46, still looks to be in football shape. Earlier this week, he posted the Amazing Race news on his Instagram. He called the competition a “crazy experience.”
Of course, no one knows how well Rod and Leticia did on The Amazing Race. CBS hasn’t even released the names of the other contestants. Gardner, given his connections to the Chiefs, was a nice name to release this week given that CBS is broadcasting the Super Bowl.
The Amazing Race, which has won 10 Emmys, takes place all over the world. The teams are given cryptic clues and must use their smarts to solve the challenges and advance to the next site. The last team standing wins $1 million. Gardner told CBS Sports that the reality show tested some key aspects of the couple’s marriage.
“I was all in from the beginning, but I didn’t know how we were going to do it as a couple,” Rod said. “We really had to see and test out our relationship and our marriage, and see where we stand under pressure, how our communication skills are. … I didn’t know what to expect when we got on the show but we definitely had some eye-opening moments.”
The two met in Atlanta in 2009. He gave his wife plenty of the same instructions his coaches game him.
“She wasn’t a quitter, and I just had to teach her, you know, in football we are always told ‘on to next play,’ ” Garnder said. “Whatever happened in the last play doesn’t matter. We gotta keep pushing forward, we can’t focus on that. That was a big game-changer for our relationship because if we did mess up, I was like, ‘Baby, it’s over. Let’s just keep going, don’t worry about it.'”