Former North Carolina Tar Heel football star Jesse Holley was working at a security monitoring company and hawking cell phones for T-Mobile when he got the call that he'd be competing on Spike TV's football reality competition "4th and Long."

Holley got on the show and won it Monday. By beating out 11 other hopefuls, Holley, who'd played briefly for Cincinnati in the NFL with another stint in Canada, earned a second football life. He earned the final roster spot to the Dallas Cowboys training camp, which begins July 28 in San Antonio.

Holley, effervescent and chatty as always, spoke to The N&O from Dallas on Tuesday, and shared stories about proving his mettle for Cowboys' great Michael Irvin, smiling pretty for the cameras. deciding whether or not to cut off the
dreds he's been growing for years, and getting a new nickname to replace the perfect-for-primetime, "Hollywood."

Spike TV will air a live, three-hour telecast of mixed martial arts in conjunction with The Ultimate Fighting Championship at 9 p.m. Dec. 10 from Fayetteville's Crown Coliseum. "UFC Fight For The Troops" is intended to raise money for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which is funding a research facility in Bethseda, Md., dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of military personnel and veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury and psychological health issues.