The Minnesota Vikings, and a few other NFL teams, are expanding their cheerleading squads to include more men, sparking debates among fans, former players, and a U.S. Senator about the role of men in the traditionally female-dominated sport.
For the 2025 season, twelve NFL franchises will now feature male cheerleaders.
Teams including the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens, and Carolina Panthers have all introduced men into their cheerleading squads. The Vikings’ rookie male cheerleaders, Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, made their debuts last week, drawing both viral praise and criticism from fans on social media.
The Vikings defended their new male cheerleaders in a statement obtained by Today:
“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. In 2025, approximately one third of NFL teams have male cheerleaders.”
“Every member of the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders program has an impressive dance background and went through the same rigorous audition process. Individuals were selected because of their talent, passion for dance and dedication to elevating the game day experience.”
Shiek shared an Instagram post of himself and Conn in their cheer uniforms, captioned: “Wait… did someone mention our names?” in response to the viral reaction of their debuts.
While some Americans may see the move as an evolution of the sport, not everyone is cheering.
Republican U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville criticized the addition of male cheerleaders, particularly in states with strong football traditions.
“I would like to ask the ownership of the NFL and the commissioner, what the hell are you doing?” Tuberville said during an appearance on the OutKick HotMic internet show.
“Your business is growing, it’s getting better and better. There’s some ways you’ve tried to attack it over the last 10-15 years, but you’ve been able to withstand that. But if you’re going to be woke and you’re gonna try to take the men out of men’s sports, which is what you’re doing. They’re trying to take gender and say, ‘OK, we’re going to make it more about gender than we are about masculinity.’ Then, you’re going to have a huge problem,” the senator added.
Former NFL players, like Jay Feely, have also expressed concern that replacing women’s roles with male performers could cut opportunities for some women based purely on virtue signaling and could be unsafe.
“I could [sic] care less if there’s a male out there as a cheerleader. The things that I do care about, though, are, you know, the women on that cheerleading squad and their locker rooms and their bathrooms. Are we protecting them?” Feely asked Newsmax. “We have to continually find ways to protect women, protect women’s sports.”
However, some supporters of male cheerleaders have argued that talent, not gender, should determine squad membership.
Fox Sports presenter Joy Taylor downplayed any controversy, calling it “outrage over nothing” in a social media post, noting that male cheerleaders have been in the NFL since 2018, beginning with the Los Angeles Rams’ Napoleon Jinnies and Quinton Peron.
As more NFL teams hire and promote their male cheerleaders, the debate continues over whether the change represents yet another DEI initiative forced into the limelight.