'DWTS' winner Rashad Jennings has big plans for the mirrorball trophy

Rashad Jennings isn't just putting the mirrorball trophy from his 'Dancing With The Stars' victory in a trophy case.

It's going to be mounted over the top of his fireplace.

"This is happening. I'm going to get some lights that beam down on it," he said. "I'm going to have it rotate and as it rotates, I'm putting speakers behind it and (the speakers) are going to play every single song that we danced to this season."

The free agent running back became the latest NFL player -- following in the footsteps of Hines Ward, Emmitt Smith and Donald Driver -- to win the trophy in the show's 24th season. He beat out former Cubs player and fan favorite David Ross and gymnast Simone Biles in the final rounds of the competition. Olympian Laurie Hernandez won in the previous season.

His key to success? Rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing.

"It's a lot of work. If somebody thinks they can show up and do this entire show and not put in a lot of uncomfortable work then they're kidding themselves," he said. "We put in five hours, five to six hours on average a day. And it was every day. Every single day. Didn't miss one rehearsal, didn't leave early. We were fighting for more (rehearsal time). When they told us we had 150 more hours or so than everyone else we were like 'what?' because we were begging for more."

It wasn't just rehearsing with his partner, Emma Slater, he said. He said he had an open invitation for any of his competitors to train with him. "Before you knew it you had half of the cast training with me in the morning. That was one way we bonded," he said.

Jennings, who played the last three seasons with the Giants, said he tries to pick up a different passion each offseason.

"Last season it was archery, poetry the one before that. Fencing the one before that. It's always something. So this offseason, I wanted to learn how to dance. It was ballroom dancing and it just so happened that it was on 'Dancing With The Stars'. It was on my to-do list. If this didn't work out, I would have taken classes or something."

Jennings and his family hadn't watched the show before he was selected to compete. But his family, friends and teammates cheered him on every week for the past three months. He watched as his former teammates went from making fun of him a bit to asking him casually towards the end of the experience for tips and if he would come dance at their weddings.

It was the bond he formed with Slater that made winning even sweeter.

"We don't know, we find out just like everybody else in America finds out across the globe. It's the adrenaline rush of who's going to win. As soon as I heard "Ra ..." I knew that was completely different from "Da ...". When "Ra" just rolled off of his tongue, I was like 'man, we just won Dancing With The Stars.' That's amazing," he said. "It felt good too because I shared it with Emma and I truly embraced her as my partner.

"I'm her biggest fan. I wanted her to win and that's part of the reason why I worked so hard because she deserved it. So it was just awesome to be front row and experience such a highlight in my life."

So now, with a new skill and a few new dance moves, Jennings will go on the 'Dancing With The Stars' tour. Then, he hopes he can get back on the football field. He has a new dance that he has planned for the end zone -- and likely won't be penalized for under the league's relaxed new rules. He said he's in "the best shape of my life" thanks to the added cardio of the hours of dancing every day.

"Football is where my passion is, it's my heart, it's still what I want to do," he said. "So I'm going to continue to do that 100 percent. I always said I don't know what's going to give first: My passion or my time. And neither one has at all. So I'm hopeful that when a GM calls, I get that call to go in and prove myself to another team and show why I can still earn the right to play this game."

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