Game Over For Gary

On "Survivor: Guatemala," former NFL quarterback Gary Hogeboom could no longer avoid the all-out blitz by Stephanie LaGrossa's powerful alliance and he finally got sacked. But not before trying a last minute Hail Mary play against Judd Sergeant at tribal council.

"I knew I was going home as I was going to the Tribal Council," Gary tells The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith. "Then, when he started kind of getting on my case, I said, 'What the heck, let's stir some things up here.' So that's what happened."

On night 30, Judd accused Gary of lying so Gary revealed to the tribe that Judd had lied to them about the location of the hidden Immunity idol.

Gary had previous opportunities to uncover Judd's play, so why did he wait till the last minute?

"I really hadn't been with Judd at all in the game," Gary says. "I wanted to try and make a connection with him. I told him that I wasn't going to out him because I needed him on my side. People were so strong. I had to attack somebody. So I didn't out him until the end there, until he started talking a little trash about me."

As he wrote down Gary's name at Tribal Council, Judd said: "You've been wondering around the jungle for two days looking like a squirrel looking for a nut. Do me a favor. Get the hell out of here."

But Gary did not go out without a fight. He tried to get Lydia Morales on his side but the alliance of four — Judd, Stephenie, Rafe and Cindy — was simply too strong. And as the Mayan gods smiled on them, they sat up on the pyramid looking down on those with less fortune.

"They were strong, and rightfully so," Gary says. "They won some challenges before the merge that gave them numbers. Realistically, if we would have had the numbers going in, we would have been strong. I don't know if we would have been sitting on the ruins the whole time looking down on us. It was interesting, but all good people. I had a great time."

So why did Lydia and Danni vote him out?

"I told them not to vote against anyone else," Gary says. "I told them to vote for me. I wanted both of them to go far, and if they voted for Steph or Judd, it would work against them."

For his part, Gary stayed consistent in his voting, making Cindy his target.

"A few weeks ago, we wanted to keep Brandon on and vote out Jamie," Gary says. "She told me she was going to vote out Jamie and she voted for Brandon. I was mad at her for it and wanted her out."

He says part of his strategy was to try to expose Stephenie. "Believe me I tried. I tried to swing everyone against her," he says. "It was impossible, though, because they are all so star struck by her. Every time I tried to turn someone against her, they would go and snitch on me. It was ridiculous."

He also tried to get Rafe to join him, but Gary says he could not make any headway because Rafe did not want to compete against him in the challenges.

And speaking of the challenges, it seemed the former NFL quarterback was holding back.

"During the team challenges, I didn't want to show off too much, so for those challenges, I did hold back some," Gary says. "But for the recent individual challenges, I always gave 110 percent. I didn't want to show my hand. Brandon showed his during the challenges and everyone wanted him out."

Throughout the game he tried to hide the fact that he was an NFL quarterback.

"I didn't want to expose it the whole game because I didn't want it to hurt me," he says. "I believe Danni really knew about it and tried to expose me a number of times. I don't think other people really knew for sure if I was or wasn't. They didn't put on to it if they did. So it was all good."

So why did he decide to play the game in the first place?

"'Survivor' is the only show I watch with my family," says the 46-year-old from Grand Haven, Mich. "If we're not home, we tape it and watch it. Love the show. I've loved it since the beginning. My kids have been trying to get me to apply for it for years, and it just finally happened. I did it for the competition, the experience. I love outdoor survival stuff and love meeting new people."

He says the starvation is toughest part of "Survivor."

"You just can't train for it," he says. "Every time you stood up, you were dizzy. Lack of energy. Watching it at home on your couch is totally the farthest thing than the reality of being in the jungle, starving, eating acorns, dirty and hot water. It was amazing."

He lost 30 pounds.

So what's next for him? "I just like being a dad and a husband," he says. "I was coaching high school sports two years ago. I stopped, though. I now coach 4th grade girls basketball."