In fact, DWTS may be a better career move for Taylor than for any other contestant in all six seasons. Before he stepped onto the dance floor that first terrifying Monday ("I wanted to curl up and die," Taylor tells me about his nerves that night) he was known by followers of NFL football, an audience that skews male. His DWTS audience, regularly 20 million strong on Monday nights, skews female. That's a really good thing for a man who might like to move into the entertainment industry (i.e. movies, TV) when his football playing days are done. "We all have goals," Taylor says. "I'd like to give it a shot if it were the right opportunity."

Don't get me wrong. He's not planning to jump immediately.  But what other industry than sports has its professionals thinking about retirement in their late 30s?  (Maybe only supermodels. Cindy Crawford once told me that she felt her career trajectory was like that of a pro athlete.)

Meanwhile, the BlackBerries and cell phones keep sliding around the table as emails and text messages come in. Taylor orders a protein shake, French toast and bacon.  He's lost just two pounds in the two months of dancing every day but he says his body shape has changed so much he's had to buy new clothes and "I like seeing my abs again."

Taylor may not say so as often as the other celebrities on the show, but he agrees that the season for him has been a life-changing experience. "It's a whole different circle of friends than I've had before," he says. Part of it is "meeting new people, hearing new stories about their journeys to success. It broadens your horizons. You make friends for life."

Steve Guttenberg is still texting Jason, too. "He'll send things like "your cha-cha was awesome." And Taylor says his friendship with Cristian de la Fuente has become close over the last few months. "Hopefully, I'll nurture that. We'll keep in touch. We'll (his family) go to Chile to visit" when Cristian is home. Because Taylor is dad to three children ages 5, 3 and 2 1/2 (the three year old is almost 4) and Cristian has a 2-1/2-year-old little girl, the two have turned the space between their trailers on the lot of DWTS into a patio, complete with baby pool where their kids can splash on those long Mondays and Tuesday when the dancers wait for their call and their fate.

(photo by Kelsey McNeal/ABC)