Some offensive linemen are so athletic their coaches have been inspired to say, “he moves like a dancer.”

This probably isn’t what those coaches meant.

Think of the qualities that coaches covet in offensive linemen: size, strength, mobility, flexibility, a mean streak and ideally a general fondness for inflicting pain.

Caleb Peveto won dance competitions in junior high school (photo by oxygen.com).

Nowhere on the wish list of assets that make up a prototypical offensive lineman does it say “must be able to two-step … or salsa … or …” any other kind of dancing.

Yet that’s exactly what former SMU guard Caleb Peveto found himself doing recently as one of the contestants on the Oxygen Network’s Dance Your Ass Off reality show.

The show, which airs at 9 p.m. (central time) each Monday on Oxygen, requires contestants to perform a collection of choreographed dances … and to lose weight. “It’s part The Biggest Loser and part Dancing With The Stars,” Peveto said.

Thousands auditioned; the winner will receive $100,000.

Peveto, who now works as a resolution and receiverships specialist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in Dallas, was invited to try out for the show in March when he was spotted while out on the town with some friends.

“I was in a club and someone saw me dancing on a stage with a bunch of girls,” he said, “and one of them said you should try out for the second season of Dance Your Ass Off. I had never heard of the show.”

Offensive linemen often are the most anonymous players on a football team, muscular hulks whose only jobs are to keep defensive players away from their quarterback and move defenders out of running lanes. When they do their jobs well, they get to watch as quarterbacks and running backs get to the end zone, field interview requests from media and have their name in headlines. The most recognition most linemen get is when they commit penalties.

But Peveto is different. He started most games from 2004-07 at both guard positions after a standout career at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas.

But while most young linemen spent every free minute working out, Peveto found enjoyment in entertaining. As a young kid, he ran around the house in his underwear, dancing to make his family laugh. In junior high school, he entered and won dance competitions.

“In the seventh grade, I would dance to impress the eighth-grade girls,” Peveto said. “They gave me a hug, and at that point, that meant the world to me.”

Peveto’s sense of humor is such that it’s not always easy to tell when he’s being serious. For example, “I’ve always had a passion for dancing,” he said, “and I was unable to satisfy that passion because of football.

“Someone said I try out. I applied, and I made it” as one of the 25 contestants, out of thousands who applied nationwide, to earn the invitation to Los Angeles. Once there, the contestants had another competition, with 12 finalists — including Peveto — moving together into a mansion in Beverly Hills.

“It was incredible being in that environment,” Peveto said. “I had never in mansion like that. It was OK, but after living in the Park Cities at SMU, it kind of looked like a double-wide trailer.”

Once there, the Dancing Dozen started putting in extensive work, learning the choreographed dances and working out to lose weight.

“We’d get up, work out and eat the healthiest, purest food I’ve ever had,” he said. “They have a doctor, a nutritionist and a trainer working with us.”

The only athlete in the bunch, Peveto said the workouts the contestants did paled in comparison to what he went through during his playing days at SMU, and while training at Plex, a Houston-based facility where he trained with other NFL hopefuls after his senior season.

But the nutritional change is something he plans to continue after the show.

“I did this show a bunch of reasons, including to have fun and to cut weight to prevent future health risks,” Peveto said. But I don’t play offensive guard anymore, and I don’t need to live like one, and I don’t need to eat like one.

Peveto played guard for the Ponies from 2004-07 (photo by Travis Johnston).

“It’s difficult, even with willpower, get outside of the athlete mentality, where I’d eat like a human garbage disposal. I have former teammates who still do, but I can’t eat like them. With my body structure — I have a big frame and broad shoulders — I’m never going to look that thin. Portion control is huge for me. Now I eat less in a day than used to eat in a meal.”

Peveto said his friends and family have been very supportive of his decision to compete on Dance Your Ass Off.

“(Former teammate) Mitch Enright asked me, ‘how do you do this kind of stuff?’ But I don’t think anyone was too surprised,” Peveto said. “My family thinks it’s funny, and they know I want to lose my playing weight, I like to entertain, and want to take Arnold Schwarzenegger’s place as the No. 1 action figure Hollywood — I guess they think this is good stepping stone to do that.”

Peveto said he realizes that most do not view offensive linemen as likely candidates to dance on television, or be on a reality show. But it his willingness to step out of his comfort zone and his refusal to take himself too seriously that allows him to do something like Dance Your Ass Off.

“It’s like my old offensive line coac, Ronnie Vinklarek would say: ‘Never let it rest, until your good gets better and your better is your best.” That didn’t always work on the football field, but now I just took that advice straight to the dance floor.

“I’m someone who likes to learn, loves knowledge, like different perspectives. I work hard, I have a good personality — dancing is just going to improve my charm, make me better Renaissance man overall. I’m looking forward to hearing from Martin Scorsese.”

Peveto said he went to Los Angeles not knowing what to expect, from the tryout process or from the show itself. If nothing else, he said, he established some new friendships with some people who got physical benefits and had a lot of fun on the show.

“Obviously, I didn’t know what to expect when I went out there,” he said. “But in the end, I met 11 of the coolest people I’ve ever met in my life, people who are looking to change their lives and be healthier people.

“You know that t-shirt around SMU that says, ‘We’re not snobs — we’re just better than you’? There was none of that with the people on the show. We were competitive with each other, but we also just enjoyed being around each other and were supportive of each other, and we worked hard in the gym and at the dancing. That’s really why we were there.”

Shooting of Dance Your Ass Off is complete, but Peveto is contractually prohibited from revealing how much weight he lost (or if he was the one contestant to gain weight while shooting), or how he fared in the quest for the $100,000 grand prize. Tune into the Oxygen network at 9 p.m. (central time) Monday to see Peveto dancing in his newest competition.