Donald Driver at Dancing with the Stars: Packers WR Dazzles Judges in Redemption

Donald Driver did what any great athlete would on Monday night—he used someone else's snub to fuel a brilliant bounce-back performance, though this time on ABC's Dancing with the Stars.

The Green Bay Packers wide receiver parlayed an apology from head judge Len Goodman regarding a low score on last week's display into a beautifully executed quickstep routine that drew all manner of praise from the panel and earned him and partner Peta Murgatroyd a solid score of 24:

Goodman, in particular, claimed that Driver's performance was "up there with the best I’ve seen tonight," a notion borne out by the points given. Of the 11 other contestants, only four—Extra host Maria Menounos, Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins, Disney star Roshon Fagan and actor William Levy—hauled in higher scores than did Driver.

All told, Driver now sits seventh in the DWTS standings with 45 points, behind Jenkins (52), Fagan (49), Levy (49), Jaleel White (aka Steve Urkel, 48), Menounos (46) and The View co-host Sherri Shepherd (46).

That leaves Driver comfortably above the cut line for now, though still with plenty of work ahead of him if he's to catch the leaders and emerge victorious.

Of course, if there's anyone in the field who knows how to stage a stirring comeback on the way to a big win, it's Driver. He was a key contributor for the 2010 Packers squad that rattled off six wins in a row to sneak into the NFL playoffs as a Wild Card and streak its way to a title in Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Compared to that, pulling off a few twinkle-toe'd twirls on national television should be little more than a cake walk for Driver, especially after the way he nailed his second dance of the competition.

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