NFL cheerleading

• 1. Introduction

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  NFL cheerleading began in 1954, when the Baltimore Colts became the first team in the National Football League to put cheerleaders on the sideline. Today twenty-five of the league's thirty-two teams have a squad that performs during games. Those squads have traveled into war zones and into courtrooms. They have been praised as role models and attacked as outdated. What does the job actually involve, and what does it pay? Why do seven teams have no squad at all? Who has been allowed to try out, and who was turned away? The answers begin with how the work is organized.

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• 2. Part-Time Work

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  Paid appearances, photoshoots and charity events fill a large share of a cheerleader's calendar. The league treats the role as part-time employment. Cheering during games is the headline duty, but squad members also act as marketing for their team, which is why a cheerleader may be booked at an event far from any stadium.

  The Pro Bowl Cheerleaders were founded in 1992 and directed by Jay Howarth and Angela King-Twitero. One squad member from every NFL team is chosen each year to join this combined group, and being picked is considered a top honor. Some members win the place by a decision of their own squads, and others through internet polls of fans.

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• 3. Overseas Tours

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  In 1996, the San Francisco 49ers Cheerleaders and their director helicoptered into Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Bosnian War. They traveled with the USO and the U.S. Army. NFL cheerleaders are among the biggest entertainment groups that regularly perform for American troops overseas, and the USO arranges many of those trips.

  Teams usually send a variety show built from their best members. The program mixes dance, music, baton twirling, acrobatics, gymnastics and more. In February 2007, the Buffalo Bills sent eight cheerleaders and their choreographer into Iraq.

  Troops in Korea have enjoyed holiday-season shows as part of the USO's Bob Hope Tour. Over the years that tour has included cheerleaders from the Dallas Cowboys, the San Francisco 49ers and the Washington Commanders.

  Armed Forces Entertainment was established in 1951 and sent out its first ProBlitz Tour in 2019. A ProBlitz stop can include a Super Bowl celebration, a cheer clinic for children and a meet-and-greet at a military base. The 2026 tours were scheduled for bases in Diego Garcia, Japan, Guam, Korea, Puerto Rico, Honduras and many more places.

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• 4. A Roster of Names

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  The New Orleans Saints have used more squad names than a casual fan could keep straight. The group was the Louisiannes in 1967 and the Mademoiselles in 1968. It became the Mam'selles in 1971, the Bonnies Amies from 1975 to 1978, and the Angels in 1978. From 1987 to 2021 the squad was the Saintsations. Since 2021 it has been the Saints Cheer Krewe.

  Atlanta's squad performed as the Falconettes from 1969 to 1976. Miami's group was the Dolphin Dolls from 1966 to 1977 and then the Dolphins Starbrites from 1978 to 1983. The Los Angeles Rams squad was called the Embraceable Ewes from 1974 to 1994.

  Some teams moved cities and changed names with them. The Cardinals squad was the St. Louis Cardinals Cheerleaders from 1964 to 1987, then the Phoenix Cardinals Cheerleaders from 1988 to 1993. Since 1994 it has been the Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders.

  Washington ran through the Redskinettes from 1962 to 1997 and the First Ladies of Football from 1998 to 2020. In 2021 it had the Washington Entertainment Team. The current squad, formed in 2022, is Command Force.

  The Minnesota Vikings leaned on local schools for years. St. Louis Park High School cheerleaders performed as The Parkettes in 1964-65 and again from 1967 to 1983. For the Green Bay Packers, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay cheerleaders have cheered since 1987, and St. Norbert College cheerleaders have done so since 2007.

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• 5. Teams Without Squads

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  As of 2025, seven teams have no cheerleading squad: the Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. Only the Giants have never had cheerleaders at any point. The other six all once did, under names such as the Chicago Honey Bears from 1976 to 1985 and the Pittsburgh Steelerettes from 1960 to 1969. The Jets Flight Crew lasted from 2007 to 2022.

  The Bills endorsed the Buffalo Jills from 1966 to 2013, although the Jills were officially independent. Several cheerleaders then sued both the Bills and the Jills organization. The Jills suspended operations.

  Super Bowl XLV, between the Steelers and the Packers, was the first Super Bowl without cheerleaders. The Steelers have no squad, and the Packers' cheerleaders perform only at home games.

  Starting in 2010, unofficial squads began to appear for teams without their own dancers. The NFL and the franchises do not sanction them. They may not perform at games, represent the team at outside functions, or use team logos and trademarked colors on uniforms. Local businesses sponsor them. They dance before games and at tailgate parties and local events, and some sit together in a block of season-ticket seats while wearing their uniforms. Their auditions, costumes and choreography resemble those of official squads, and some even sell an annual swimsuit calendar. All of them hope the NFL will someday name them official.

  The Detroit Pride Cheerleaders, assembled in August 2010 to support the Lions, were the first independent professional team. Because the Lions did not recognize the squad, it could not use the team's colors or logos. The Lions started an official squad in 2016.

  The Gotham City Cheerleaders formed in August 2011 to support New York sports, though they are most closely tied to the Giants. They have also gone by the New York Unofficials, the Unofficial Dancers of the New York Giants and the Gotham's Team Blue Army Dancers.

  In September 2012, the Cleveland Spirit Cheerleaders began as a test team to gauge fan interest in supporting the Browns. The same people who created the Detroit Pride were behind it.

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• 6. Men on the Sideline

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  On the 20th of May 1978, Glenn Welt became the first man to try out as an NFL cheerleader. When he arrived at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Dolphins would not let him compete. The episode became a nationwide news story and led to a federal anti-discrimination case. A November 1979 episode of Mork & Mindy spoofed it, and the broadcast sank plans for a CBS made-for-TV movie in which Robin Williams would have played Welt. In the episode, Williams pranced onto a football field in a female outfit, which misrepresented Welt and male cheerleaders generally.

  Male cheerleaders stayed rare for decades because of social norms and questions of marketability. In 1998, the Baltimore Ravens Cheerleaders became the first squad to use male stuntmen.

  The first male dancers joined the league in 2009, when the Dallas Cowboys introduced the Rhythm & Blue Dancers. Charlotte Jones founded the group and Jenny Durbin Smith directs it, and it was the first co-ed dance team in NFL history. It performs at every home game on stage, at halftime and on the sideline, with hip-hop dancing, stunting, freestyle and tumbling. The same organization also started the first NFL drum corps. In 2017 it created the Dallas Cowboys Rookie Squad, a co-ed hip-hop team for ages 7 to 16.

  In 2018, the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints added male dancers. In 2019, the Seahawks, Patriots, Titans, Colts, Buccaneers and Eagles did the same. The Seahawks became the second permanent co-ed squad after the Ravens. In 2021, three men made the Carolina TopCats final team, a first for that squad, and the Kansas City Chiefs added a man. Most of the men on these squads work in stunts.

  In March 2022, Justine Lindsay, a transgender woman, made the Carolina Topcats. She became the first openly transgender person to cheer in the NFL.

  In August 2025, during the preseason, the Vikings introduced two male cheerleaders, which prompted national backlash on social media. The team answered with an official statement: "Male cheerleaders have been a part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading."

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• 7. Battle of the Cheerleaders

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  In 1979, Hollywood, Florida hosted the first "Battle of the NFL Cheerleaders." Two cheerleaders from each team formed a mini-team and took on the others in athletic events. Those included kayaking, swimming, a 100-yard dash, obstacle courses and jet skiing. The Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders won the title.

  In 1980, the contest moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey, and the Washington Redskinettes were the champions. Shiona Baum and Jeannie Fritz won, and each received a car as the grand prize.

  The NFL Network revived the idea in 2006 as the NFL Cheerleader Playoffs. Taping ran from the 17th to the 21st of July 2006 at Six Flags New England in Agawam, Massachusetts. Two-person teams from 25 of the league's 32 franchises took part in four rounds. The first two tested athletic ability, with events such as the 100-yard dash, kayaking, tandem cycling and an obstacle course. The third was a trivia round called "Know Your NFL." The last was a one-minute dance routine like the ones cheerleaders perform on NFL sidelines.

  The San Diego Chargers pair, Casie and Shantel, beat the Atlanta Falcons and St. Louis Rams squads for the overall championship. All three finished tied at 210 points. The Chargers took the title by winning the dance round.

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• 8. Pay and Criticism

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  The 2019 documentary A Woman's Work: The NFL's Cheerleader Problem put the spotlight on how NFL cheerleaders are paid and treated. Critics have called the practice sexist, objectifying, exploitative and outdated. Several cheerleaders have sued their teams, alleging violations of minimum wage laws, mistreatment by management, exploitative rules, sexual harassment and groping.

  Charlotte Jones Anderson, a Dallas Cowboys brand officer, has acknowledged that the pay was low. She suggested that being a cheerleader was "about being a part of something bigger than themselves.... They have a chance to feel like they're valued, that they're special and that they are making a difference."

  Defenders argue that cheerleading draws young women into the NFL at its most visible level and gives the league role models for female fans. They also call it a cost-effective way to promote a team at events. Some squads have spoken up for female empowerment and LGBT rights on behalf of their teams.

  In 2013, NFL spokesperson David Tossell defended the tradition. He said cheerleading has a long history in most American sports, "from youth leagues to the NFL," and is part of the game day experience for fans.

  The number of male cheerleaders rose in the 2010s, partly to offset concerns that NFL cheerleading was sexist.

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