Male cheerleaders? Who cares

The most famous cheerleaders in the National Football League once belonged to the Dallas Cowboys. Both fans and haters of the Texas stars affectionately referred to the busty, well-coiffed, smiling gals as “America’s sweethearts.”

Today, America’s most-talked-about sweetheart is . . . a man.

This week, the Minnesota Vikings announced its new cheer squad on Instagram in a video that quickly went viral. In it, a young male cheerleader sashays in the middle of a dance group accompanying a caption that reads, “The next generation of cheer has arrived.” Shortly after, another male cheerleader said he also was joining the squad. 

They sure stirred up the crowd. Twitter fingers went flying faster than a back handspring. The Minnesota Vikings immediately started trending. 

Actor Kevin Sorbo wrote in a tweet, “I’ve been a Vikings fan all my life . . . sigh. I need a new team now.” It was seen 53 million times.

At the time of my writing this, the top comment on the Instagram video with almost 10,000 likes says, “we going 2-98 this season.”

The backlash grew so severe that the Vikings released a statement to media saying: “While many fans may be seeing male cheerleaders for the first time at Vikings games, male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading.”

They’re not wrong. Male cheerleaders are hardly a new phenomenon to the NFL. In fact, men have joined the cheer teams since at least 2018. The Los Angeles Rams won a Super Bowl in 2022 with male cheerleaders high kicking and prancing on the sidelines of the game’s largest stage. The Baltimore Ravens have used male cheerleaders and will reportedly feature a record 19 male cheerleaders for the 2025 season. The New Orleans Saints have signed 13 male dancers.

In total, at least 12 NFL teams will feature male cheerleaders this season.

If you really want to blow a social-decorum gasket on the gridiron, the Carolina Panthers also hired the league’s first transgender cheerleader to their Top Cats squad in 2022. 

Only now are people taking notice with the Instagram comment button. 

As the fervor online hit a crescendo, I couldn’t help but shrug my shoulders, personally. If men help create more eye-catching stunts, then let them hit the high step and make fetch happen. Acrobatics are more appealing on the sidelines in between downs than pom-pom waves.  

As I’ve covered games journalistically and watched as a fan, not once have I cared to see who is dancing in timeouts. If anything, I would be annoyed if stadium officials or fans looked at my blonde hair and asked if I was a cheerleader myself. Yes, it happened often. Soccer cleats? Sure. Tutus and hair ribbons, no.

If people want to dance, let them. It’s not like cheerleading professionally is lucrative. It took Netflix featuring a second season of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders in a docuseries before the squad received a 400 percent raise. Many other teams pay in the range of $150 per game. Seven football teams don’t even have cheerleaders. The cheer pageantry is not an essential part of the game’s production. But, if it is included, we should argue these individuals make a fair wage. Guy or girl, these people do it because they truly love it – not to make ends meet. The money is peanuts.

As proven by the league’s experience with former Commander’s owner Dany Snyder – whose regime was forced to settle with the cheerleaders after sexual-harassment allegations were made – we should focus more on humane treatment.

So, chill the beers, get the chicken-wing platters ready, and come the season opener, relax. Take your anger out on your fantasy team, because just like the Lambeau Leap, male cheerleaders are now – and have been – a reality in the NFL.