Another year for the Cowboys, another reality show, and just like Hard Knocks, DallasCowboys.com is here with more knee-jerk thoughts following the first episode of Michael Irvin's 4th and Long, the series debuting Monday night on Spike TV.

The theme to the show is simple: There are six defensive backs and six wide receivers, and by the end of the series, one guy will be selected to fill the 80th spot on the Cowboys' 80-man roster heading to training camp in San Antonio the final week of July.

But along the way we'll get to know these real-life football players, hoping the Turk will not come fetch them, as the players are eliminated from the competition with each show.  So let's get started with some initial impressions of the premier showing of this series.

First thing we see is the bus pulling up to the Cotton Bowl, which makes you wonder - where would they have hosted this affair if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had gotten to build his new stadium in Fair Park?  First look at some of the defensive backs: Donte Gamble. He's 30. Thirty? That's really old for a guy still looking for his shot in the NFL.

Erick Jackson, a 24-year-old defensive back out of Texas, claims he was screwed by his "punk agent." Could that be true? Absolutely. If he makes it, will agents be offering to pick him up? That's a bigger question.

Stephen Andrews, 25 out of the College of New Jersey, says he's not scared of anyone. I have a feeling he will be humbled a bit.  Eddie Moten from the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League has a heads up on some of these guys since he's played competitive football over the past several years. Some of these kids have been leading a normal life for a while.

Now the wide receivers - Preston McGann never played football in high school, and decided to switch from baseball in the middle of college. That could work two ways for him. Either the transition is too much to handle (Isaiah Stanback's having enough trouble switching from quarterback) or he develops without any bad habits.

Andrew Hawkins is only 5-foot-7. If he hasn't made the NFL already, he likely won't now, not at that height.  Luke Swann is probably right that his injury at Wisconsin scared off a lot of pro scouts. Good thing for him is that at a Big Ten program, he probably got the necessary rehab to actually be OK again.

Jesse Holley is a dead ringer for Larry Fitzgerald. Does he play like him? Probably not, but he did play football and basketball at North Carolina, so you know he's an athlete.  Apparently defensive backs don't like wide receivers. Who knew?

Donte Gamble just said he gets to go out and "destroy a guy without going to jail." He better be careful with comments like that - after Pacman, Jerry's probably tired of any mention of prison.  Who's that silhouetted figure coming out of the tunnel? C'mon, like they didn't know who it was going to be. It's Irvin's show.

You can see why Irvin was the guy Spike chose for this show. He's good with the dramatic speeches. Maybe his audition tape was his Hall of Fame induction speech.Nate Newton is part of this show? I'm sold. Talked to him a few times during training camp last year, and Big Nate won't give you any BS. He'll shoot you straight.

Time to surrender the cell phones? No way most of us could do it. I pretty much play Brickbreacker on my BlackBerry in my sleep. Everyone is sleeping in the Cotton Bowl. They look surprised. Did they read the contract they had to sign before participating in this show?

Pretty nice locker room/bedrooms though. As the players see highlights of the opposing position, we learn about the four other Cowboys hopefuls. A quick overview: Steve "Speedy" Gonzalez, wide receiver, has experience with the Soul, but has been out of football because of his dad's death. Good reason, but it may affect his stamina being out of the game for a while.

Wide receiver Dontrell Jones has the school background that would suggest he could succeed, coming from Tennessee and Louisville. Ahmaad Smith, defensive back from Tennessee State, tore his MCL before his Pro Day. The real question is, after being out of football, can his MCL withstand what Irvin's about to put him through?

Moses Washington is 28, but played football and ran track at Oklahoma. As they say, you can't teach speed. Now the coaches are introduced - Joe Avezzano (wide receivers) and Bill Bates (defensive backs) both have special teams backgrounds, which, as Bates points out, will be these players' ticket onto the Cowboys' 80-man training camp roster.

What Avezzano just called the type of players the Cowboys don't want isn't exactly fit for print, but it is hilarious. I'm naming my dog that. Learned a lot from these gunner drills. Stocks up for Jackson, Moten, Jones and Hawkins. Stocks down for McGann, Gonzalez, Swan and Andrews.

Watching these guys break down physically is brutal. I really don't need to see guys lose their lunch.  Michael Irvin would probably make a hell of a coach - not at the pro level, because guys' egos are just too big. But high school or small college? Sign him up.

Jones hurt himself in Irvin's eyes by puking during 110s. Shows he's out of shape.  Finally, a 40 time that means something. Good times from Andrews (4.66), Washington (4.63) and Hawkins (4.59). OK times from Holley (4.75), Jones (4.85) and Swan (4.80).

After running 40s, Swan is talking about how he's glad he got himself in shape. Sorry buddy, but a 4.80 time in the 40 doesn't make you look that much more in shape than other guys. Pretty cool to see a Drew Pearson appearance. He doesn't have quite the flair for the dramatic that Irvin does, but a couple guys said they found his speech pretty inspirational.

War Room time. Here's what we learn: Gamble is safe, they like Jackson's effort, and Andrews is completely outmatched. Throwing up hurt Jones, Hawkins impressed with his hand work on the gunner drills, and McGann failed to make any waves. "Speedy" Gonzalez, who pulled up lame during his 40, has found himself in a situation where injuries cannot be afforded.

Big Nate is the grim reaper, the guy who calls you up to the War Room. Too bad they didn't give him a cool catch phrase. I vote for Eric Bana's line in the new Star Trek movie: "This is your day of reckoning!"  Andrews, Jones and Gonzalez get the "call." We learn first off that Jones is staying, but he needs to lay off the cheeseburgers. Now it's down to Gonzalez and Andrews. I think Andrews really sealed the deal when he started making excuses about holding on the gunner drill. Michael Irvin does not like excuses.

Sure enough, Andrews is gone. Despite his excuse-making, he was very gracious after he was cut. That's something you have to admire.  The people who stay get new jerseys? What's the significance of that?  So that's the end of the episode. Judging by the promo for next week, expect some rainy, muddy, dirty football. It's too bad we didn't get to see all the tryouts of the people who didn't make that group
of 12. It could have had bad American Idol-audition potential.