I play in the NFL. Anger at male cheerleaders is actually about attempts to control masculinity | NFL

of All existing threats facing professional football – Concussion that erodes the mind Among players, scandals from internal rotting institutions have reduced youth interest in a sport based on collision and control – who can predict that some fans’ real shaking is the two people who see two men dancing on the sideline?

Earlier this month, the Minnesota Vikings launched their newly cast 35 members cheerleading team with a bold promotional video subtitle“The cheers of the next generation!” Not only did this catch people’s attention, but two male performers, Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, are part of the group.

Almost immediately, a reaction broke out online, from heartfelt support to calls for boycotts and even homosexual slander. NFL The name is not mentioned in the player here or in any other famous publication. In the storm, the Vikings stood firm. That’s right. After all, Minnesota is no stranger to innovators who challenge the convention. This is the prince’s home, a man who wears high heels, embraces gender ambiguousness and redefines masculinity.

Vikings remind everyone in official statement, male cheerleaders – Including former US President – Not just at the amateur and college level, but not in the NFL itself. As of the 2025 season, at least 11 NFL teams include the male cheerleaders of the official team, the first being the 2018 Los Angeles Rams, when Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies were off the court and Performed at the Super Bowl in 2019. The Minnesota Vikings also reminds people that Shiek and Conn have won their positions through the same competitive process as their peers, just as we soccer players compete and win our positions on the roster.

I was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015, and I went to those locker rooms, and I felt overwhelmed by the pressure of athletes, teammates and people. One thing I don’t think about in my mind or any other player is cheerleading.

Not because they don’t have talent. Not because they don’t belong. But because during the game, when they perform off the court or in half, we get stuck, make adjustments on the court, do all the work on the court, or handle and plan in the second half of the locker room. Everyone there has a job to do, and cheerleading is no exception. They are not with the players. They are there for fans. This means they should reflect all fan.

People who express their anger at the Vikings against male cheerleaders are not talking about work ethics, talent or dedication. Their complaints are even more unfounded than the quarterback on Monday morning, a term that is meant to address the criticism of the player, which is an issue of criticizing the player afterwards.

It’s totally irrelevant. It’s about being. It’s about the presence and popularity of men in the NFL cheer squad, they don’t fit into rigid, outdated concepts of masculinity that many people use sports, especially football, to defend.

What this rebound really reveals is not the fear of change, but the fear of visibility. Anger at male cheerleading is not about sports. It’s about controlling: people who go beyond masculinity, beyond image, and who are seen and celebrated in public places or on the global stage of the NFL. This is the drive’s impulse Anti-LBGTQ+ legislationsame fear fuel Booking ban,,,,, Bathroom billand Attack resistance performer. This moment is not isolated. This is part of a strong cultural opposition to the wider cultural opposition to liberation.

Just as Christian nationalism has long been weaponized to marginalize queer people, so is the movement. The movement is used to draw a line around “Americans” and “people enough”. But these lines were never attracted to protect. They were attracted to power.

The truth is, football is not as solid as society wants us to believe. The power of movement lies in its intimacy; its emotional end. Under lights and flags and banners, players and fans will be sad, cry, pray, dance and hug. The locker room is one of the few people in American culture, allowing people to be vulnerable, broken, cry, and embrace in celebrations, talk to peers from all cultures and generations, and then build yourself again. When you strip your helmet and hit you, you see what has always been there: the truth that joy, vulnerability, brotherhood and undeniable masculinity are not fixed, which is smooth. This has not changed.

Shiek, Conn and every male cheerleader in the entire league is not only cheering on the team. For the next generation of boys who want to move their bodies with pride, they cheer for the possibility, for those who don’t see the shoulder pads but still belong to the stadium. Sports is not sacred because it can resist change. It is sacred because it brings people together and the more inclusive the unity becomes, the stronger the game will be.