Hold up, wait a minute, let me put some . . . male cheerleaders in it?!? Did I hear that right, are there going to be male cheerleaders in the NFL this season? Looks like the answer is a resounding yes. Both the Saint Louis Rams and the New Orleans Saints will have men on the sidelines with their upcoming cheer squads. The Saint Louis Rams (the team that also gave us Michael Sam - the first openly gay recruit to make it to the NFL) will have Napoleon Jinnies and Quinton Peron and the Saints will be home to Jesse Hernandez.
The story has been flying through the media posing the question is America ready for this. Truth be told, I don't think anyone is going to care. Now I'm happy for these men and wish them long and successful careers with their respective teams. But do I believe anyone is going to bat an eye when they see a guy dancing on the sidelines? Not really. People concerns this years will continue to be will my team make it to the Superbowl and are the black guys kneeling during the National Anthem!
I know several brave men that were the first male cheerleaders to step up and cheer on their high school squads and they received hella backlash. But that was in the 80s - a totally different time when Reagan was in the White House, The Golden Girls was on TV, and Prince and Michael Jackson ruled the radio. Times have changed. We've had male cheerleaders on college squads for years. It is long overdue for the NFL to do the same. Male cheerleaders are no longer taboo. So KUDOS to these two teams for welcoming these amazing men to their stadiums.
I'll close with this, I've been ready for this to happen in the NFL since I saw this happen at an Arizona Rattlers game (to see things get real, jump forward 45 seconds in the video) . . .
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