Hard as it is to imagine a Deadliest Catch captain doing anything other than washing the smell of crab out of his beard and cursing a whole lot, the men can’t be blamed for seeking to exploit their increasing fame in less strenuous ways.

There have been vague rumors connecting Northwestern captain Sig Hansen with Dancing With the Stars for some time now, and several months ago he acknowledged them by saying that sure, he’s a fan of the show and would love to do it if asked (and if it didn’t conflict with crab season). Hansen didn’t regard these remarks as him campaigning, but a bandwagon was soon started for him anyway: Jay Leno gave the idea some more promotion, and now there’s an active Facebook community where over 20,000 people have expressed their support for seeing Sig do the crab with Karina Smirnoff.

Hansen would not be available for a fall season of DWtS, as Northwestern is busy with king crab at that time, but the spring DWtS season typically gets under way in mid-March. Even factoring in several weeks for rehearsal, Hansen could probably wrap up the Opilio crab season in time to put on a tux (or…sequins?).

While DWtS sometimes appears reluctant to cast celebs who seem too eager to be on, naming Hansen would be in keeping with the show’s strategy of selecting a few stars who come from subcultures that otherwise might not be into the quickstep, such as football or wrestling. As long as there’s no conflict with Discovery (Deadliest Catch typically airs on Tuesdays at 9 p.m., the same time as the DWtS results show), this seems like a no-brainer of an idea. Sig can even ensure fresh seafood for the catering table.

Tags: dancing with the stars