Max Crumm, a contestant on the NBC reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want," won the iconic role of Danny Zuko.

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On most reality shows, the winner walks away with something like a cash prize, a chance to date someone, or maybe just what's left of his or her dignity.

Former Pima Community College student Max Crumm left with a job. A good one.

The 21-year-old won the iconic role of Danny Zuko on NBC's "Grease: You're the One That I Want" Sunday. Although the show wasn't a ratings hit, it accomplished its goal of casting the male and female leads in an upcoming Broadway revival of "Grease," through "American Idol"-style weekly eliminations based on viewer votes (Laura Osnes won the role of Sandy).

"You forget, because you were in the game so long, that there was a prize, and it's like the greatest prize of them all," Crumm said by telephone after a photo shoot in New York City. "It's so ridiculous. It's such a magical, Disney-feeling."

Despite the victory, Crumm, nicknamed "Slacker Danny" on the show, doesn't fit into the John Travolta mold — which he says is a big reason for his success.

"I'm not comparable to those other guys," Crumm said of the other contestants, including runner-up Austin Miller, who acted in "Days of Our Lives" and played Kenickie in a national tour of "Grease." "I'm completely different from them, and I think that's what got me through."

His past instructors at PCC agree.

"He's a quirky, character-actor type, and he grew into a romantic male lead," said Todd Poelstra, program coordinator for theater arts, who directed Crumm in a 2004 production of "Damn Yankees."

"Physically, he had to bulk up a lot, he had to butch up a lot, but he never lost the essence of who he is," added Betsy Kruse-Craig, who directed Crumm in "Lysistrata" in 2003. "He's an atypical romantic lead, sort of rewriting in a modern sense who and what that character can be."

Crumm, who grew up in Ahwatukee, appreciated what he learned at PCC, but he didn't enjoy his overall experience in Southern Arizona.

"It was all right," said Crumm. "I hated Tucson, though, to be honest. I felt people go to Tucson and kind of get stuck there."

Hated? Stuck? Really?

"It wasn't so much Tucson, it was Tucson and school," he explained. "College isn't for me."

After a year at PCC, Crumm moved to Los Angeles, waiting for his still-to-come big break for about three years.

"I had some crappy agents that I didn't really ever get to talk to because I was scared of them," he said. "I got some pretty good auditions, but I never really booked anything."

Poelstra said Crumm's dedication sets him apart from many other actor hopefuls.

"We have plenty of talented kids, who are just as talented as he is, but he has a tremendous amount of determination to come back from rejection, stay focused and committed to it," Poelstra said.

"He gives a lot of people a hope to keep going and be true to yourself," echoed Kruse-Craig.

His acting teachers at PCC saw his talent early on.

"He's a very unique individual, and that was very obvious from the moment he stepped into one of my classes," Kruse-Craig said.

From here, Crumm is returning to Los Angeles to "relax, decompress." "Grease" rehearsals start in June (the show opens later this summer), which means he'll have to relocate to New York City.

"I'm such a West Coast guy, it's going to take a while, but I totally love it here," said Crumm, whose immediate family still lives in Ahwatukee. "I'm going to experience winter for the first time."

With a post-show media blitz and random strangers beginning to recognize him on the street, Crumm said the experience is quickly becoming "real."

"It's starting to sink in," he said. "It hadn't sunk in until probably the 10th or 11th interview. We're going to be on Broadway. We're going to be Broadway stars within the next year."

Luckily (not that he'd admit otherwise), Crumm is a lifelong "Grease" fan.

"Oh, my gosh, I love 'Grease,' " he said. "I used to watch 'Grease' all the time. I used to watch the movie. I've seen the stage production before. It's just a party of a show."

So, not only was Crumm the one "we" want, "Grease" was what he wanted.