To paraphrase Andy Warhol, Cory Driggs has had his 15 minutes of fame.

More than that, actually.

Off the field, he's been no Ordinary Joe, having served a church mission to Argentina, marrying and starting a family, and building a successful career for himself.

On the field, turns out he's an Extraordinary Joe, having held his own during a recent showing of the popular television series, “Pros vs. Joes.”

Intrepid sports fan Cory Driggs.

“It's a fun show — it's a guy thing,” Driggs said of his appearance, which was shown on a tape delay on March 13.

Driggs survived a first-round dash to the end zone and was teamed with Calvin Lafiton, a coach originally from New Orleans, in a second-round game of 21 with former San Antonio Spurs basketball player Sean Elliott.

In separate games, Elliott defeated both Lafiton and Driggs 21-4, with Lafiton eliminating Driggs in a free-throw contest to advance.

“Short and sweet,” Driggs sighed later, recalling that the oldest of his four daughters had sent a warning: “Don't mess with my dad.”

Cory Driggs, suited up for his television competition.

Driggs' journey from San Antonio to Phoenix to the New Orleans Superdome, one of the program's game sites, has been improbable at best.

A standout high school athlete, Driggs says he got the idea to audition for the program after two friends appeared on the show and talked him into sending an audition tape to Spike television.

“It wasn't so much my athletic ability. It was my nickname — the Driggonator,” Driggs said. “When I arrived in Los Angeles for the tryout, I introduced myself and one of the producers said, ‘Ah, yes, the Driggonator.' ”

Driggs said almost 200 individuals tried out in Southern California; other tryouts were held at several other locations.

“They tested us in football, basketball and baseball,” said Driggs, who was an all-state defensive back at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz. “I guess I had more versatility than some of the others.”

The Pros vs. Joes program matches former professional athletes with, as the Spike network notes, “all the loudmouth fans and cocky couch potatoes who have tormented them during their careers.”

Driggs said that, yes, he is one of those loudmouth fans and couch potatoes, though he's not as loud or as colorful with his language.

In addition to Elliott, the other professional athletes were former major league baseball player Brady Anderson and former National Football League quarterback Jeff George, who, one competitor said, “threw the football like Boy George.”

“I guess I'm one of those typical Joes, the guy who had athletic potential but never pursued it,” Driggs said. “I was a little more laid back than most of the others. I was more sarcastic than confrontational with my (trash-talking). The idea was to make yourself known, either athletically or verbally.”

The competition, he said, was intense and there was no letup.

In the football competition, Driggs bloodied his left elbow scrambling for a loose football. He also tore up his left hand diving for a ball during the basketball game with Elliott.

“People in our ward have been ragging on me, wanting to know every little detail,” said Driggs, who served his mission from 1996-1998 in Buenos Aires.

And while he calls his appearance on Pros vs. Joes amazing, he says he's anything but a celebrity, that his mission experience a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, noting that he was called to the same mission as David K. Udall, his stake president, and Justin Cook, one of his closest friends.

“We left and came home the same day together,” Driggs said. “We also served twice together: six months into the mission, we opened an area that had been closed to missionaries for about eight years. We also finished our mission as AP's.”

His mission, Driggs said, taught him how to better prioritize his life.

“A big reason I decided not to play football when I got home was that I wanted to get through school with my education as quickly as possible,” he said. “I wanted to find out where I wanted to be with my career, I wanted to get there and to ultimately start and support my family.”

Driggs married Summer Decker, a friend who corresponded with him through his mission service, in December 1998 in the Mesa Arizona Temple. They now have four children (Caitlynn, 7; Annika, 5; Brock, 2; and Claire, born March 4).

Since returning from his mission, Driggs has served as missionary prep instructor, president, counselor and instructor in the Elders Quorum, Primary instructor and Cub Scout advisor at wards in Mesa and Tucson.

“When I was a freshman and in seminary, I told the teacher that I would rather pursue college athletics than go on a mission,” Driggs said. “I kept saying that until my senior year in high school. That's why I got my Patriarchal Blessing, which laid out my life, including serving a mission.”

Driggs credits his bishop and a group of friends with giving him his spiritual direction and his parents and family members with giving him direction at home.

His father was a national champion in the pentathlon, his mother a national champion baton twirler, and his sister won a junior national championship as a synchronized swimmer. His wife was a 1996 Arizona high school high jump champion.

It's all been an incredible experience, said Driggs, who works as a medical supply salesman. “I guess I fit the bill as an average Joe with something to prove. (The professional athletes) were there to have a good time, but once the cameras were on, it was different. Everyone's elevation of cockiness or trash-talking kicked in.”

Win, lose or draw, Driggs knew he'd accomplish something.

“I knew this gets my ‘what if' checked off,” he said. “I was accidentally shot in the right eye with a BB gun when I was 16 and I never retained full vision. Now, look at what I did. Just imagine what I could have done with two eyes.”