Of all of the existential threats dealing with skilled soccer – concussions that erode the minds of gamers, scandals that rot establishments from inside, dwindling youth curiosity in a sport constructed on collision and management – who might’ve predicted that what would really rattle some followers was the sight of two males dancing on the sideline?
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Vikings unveiled their newly minted 35-member cheerleading squad with a daring promotional video captioned, “The following era of cheer has arrived!” It wasn’t simply the choreography that caught consideration, however the truth that two male performers, Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, had been a part of the group.
Virtually instantly, reactions erupted on-line, from heartfelt assist to requires a boycott, and even a homophobic slur wielded by a former NFL participant whose identify deserves no point out on this or another respected publication. Amid the storm, the Vikings stood agency. And rightly so. In spite of everything, Minnesota isn’t any stranger to innovators who problem conference. That is the house of Prince, a person who wore excessive heels, embraced gender ambiguity, and redefined masculinity.
In an official assertion, the Vikings reminded everybody that male cheerleaders – whose quantity embrace former US presidents – are nothing new, not solely on the beginner and collegiate ranges but in addition within the NFL itself. As of the 2025 season, at the very least 11 NFL groups embrace male cheerleaders on their official squads, the primary being the Los Angeles Rams again in 2018, when Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies made historical past on the sidelines and later carried out on the Tremendous Bowl in 2019. The Minnesota Vikings additionally reminded people who Shiek and Conn earned their spots by way of the identical aggressive course of as their friends, very like we soccer gamers compete and earn our spots on the roster.
I used to be drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2015, and I’ve been in these locker rooms the place the stress to carry out as an athlete, teammate and man can really feel overwhelming. The one factor that wasn’t on my thoughts or another participant’s thoughts was the cheerleaders.
Not as a result of they weren’t proficient. Not as a result of they didn’t belong. However as a result of in the course of the sport, whereas they carried out on the sidelines or at half-time, we had been in huddles, making changes on the sidelines, giving our all on the sector, or processing and schemes within the locker rooms for the following half. Everybody on the market has a job to do, and the cheerleaders are not any exception. They’re not there for the gamers. They’re there for the followers. Which suggests they need to replicate all of the followers.
The individuals expressing outrage over male cheerleaders on the Vikings aren’t speaking about work ethic, expertise or dedication. Their complaints are much more baseless than the Monday Morning Quarterbacks – a time period created to deal with those that criticize gamers with the good thing about hindsight.
This isn’t about efficiency in any respect. It’s about presence. It’s concerning the mere existence and visibility of males on NFL cheer squads who don’t conform to the inflexible, outdated concepts of masculinity that so many use sport, and soccer particularly, to defend.
What this backlash actually reveals just isn’t worry of change, however worry of visibility. The outrage over male cheerleaders isn’t about sports activities. It’s about management: over masculinity, over picture, and over who will get to be seen and celebrated in public areas or on the worldwide stage of the NFL. It’s the identical impulse that drives anti-LBGTQ+ laws, the identical worry that fuels ebook bans, lavatory payments, and assaults on drag performers. This second isn’t remoted; it’s a part of a broader cultural backlash to liberation.
And simply as Christian nationalism has lengthy been weaponized to marginalize queer individuals, so too has sport. Sport is used to attract strains round what’s “American” and “man sufficient”. However these strains had been by no means drawn for cover; they had been drawn for energy.
The reality is, soccer isn’t as rugged as society would really like us to consider. The ability of sport is in its intimacy; its emotional extremity. In the best way gamers and followers alike grieve, cry, pray, dance, and embrace beneath the lights and flags, and banners. The locker room is likely one of the few locations in American tradition the place males are allowed to be susceptible, damaged, weep, and to hug in celebration, communicate with friends throughout all cultures and generations, and construct themselves up once more. Once you peel again the helmets and hits, you’ll see what’s at all times been there: pleasure, vulnerability, brotherhood, and the plain fact that masculinity isn’t fastened, it’s fluid. And that’s not altering.
Shiek, Conn, and each male cheerleader throughout the league aren’t simply cheering for a staff. They’re cheering for risk, for the following era of boys who wish to transfer their our bodies with delight, for the children who don’t see themselves in shoulder pads however nonetheless belong within the stadium. Sport isn’t sacred as a result of it resists change. It’s sacred as a result of it brings individuals collectively, and the extra inclusive that togetherness turns into, the extra highly effective the sport will likely be.
