2025 NFL Season Thread

[Senator Clay Davis]

There's only two kinds of dancing: Just dancing, and "Elaine-ing".

[ben voyonsdonc]

You have your own opinions on dance moves but a dance move isn’t male or female.

Personally I dance like a cadaver in rigour mortis but a gender neutral corpse.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

C'mon bro. Yes there is. A lot of dancing is gender neutral. A lot of dancing is not.

As for not understanding the customer, I think I'm correct. Cheerleaders as they are now, traditional cheerleaders slim, young women doing a mix of impressive athletic dancing with sexually suggestive dancing/clothes appeals to a lot of men, and men make up a large % of the NFL fan base. And I'm sure you'll find gay men and straight women are impressed with the dance routines and the choreography and athleticism. Some of the Cowboys cheerleaders routines could be in the Olympics they're so taxing.

But men who dancing in feminine ways (sorry thats just how I see it) aren't going to appeal to their current fans. If you took 100 Viking fans, 50 probably don't really care at all. 30 are probably outraged. and maybe 20 are like, hey cool. I just dont see why you'd do something with so little upside when you're trying to cater a specific demographic. It's genuinely baffling.

Maybe they see that their demographic is more diverse than you do and also want to continue to grow their fan base specifically beyond those who want to watch slim, young women as cheerleaders. Seems reasonable to me.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Former NFL player RK Russell weighs in.

The people expressing outrage over male cheerleaders on the Vikings aren’t talking about work ethic, talent or dedication. Their complaints are even more baseless than the Monday Morning Quarterbacks – a term created to address those who criticize players with the benefit of hindsight.

This isn’t about performance at all. It’s about presence. It’s about the mere existence and visibility of men on NFL cheer squads who don’t conform to the rigid, outdated ideas of masculinity that so many use sport, and football in particular, to defend.

What this backlash really reveals is not fear of change, but fear of visibility. The outrage over male cheerleaders isn’t about sports. It’s about control: over masculinity, over image, and over who gets to be seen and celebrated in public spaces or on the global stage of the NFL. It’s the same impulse that drives anti-LBGTQ+ legislation, the same fear that fuels book bans, bathroom bills, and attacks on drag performers. This moment isn’t isolated; it’s part of a broader cultural backlash to liberation.

And just as Christian nationalism has long been weaponized to marginalize queer people, so too has sport. Sport is used to draw lines around what’s “American” and “man enough”. But those lines were never drawn for protection; they were drawn for power.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...rs-nfl-vikings

[MRCboicgy]

Who's it for? For the dancers who won their way onto the cheer team fair and square.

Especially in the city/state that gave us Prince.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Why are we even wasting time on this lol. Are we gonna move on to sideline reporters next? About as useful as cheerleaders (arguably less so), so get those sausage fests gone from the sideline reports and give me more tits or give me death.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by White Out 403

...

But men who dancing in feminine ways (sorry thats just how I see it) aren't going to appeal to their current fans. If you took 100 Viking fans, 50 probably don't really care at all. 30 are probably outraged. and maybe 20 are like, hey cool. I just dont see why you'd do something with so little upside when you're trying to cater a specific demographic. It's genuinely baffling.

I do agree with you that traditionally - and still - cheerleaders primarily play a sex appeal/eye candy role in the NFL and generally any other pro sport league that have them. The design of the outfits are intentional for the male gaze.

But I disagree with it being a baffling decision. As time goes on, things change. I think Vikings recognize that cheerleading dance teams don't have to be exclusively women, and there's an overall acceptance for involving men on those teams. There's plenty of men that have a passion and strong ability to dance as well. Whether it's in a feminine or masculine way, I would figure the pros outweigh the cons. I don't know off the top of my head which teams across all sports that have mixed dance teams (not the male stunt/yell cheerleaders), but I believe a few NBA teams have been doing it. I know the Raptors are one of them. As time goes by, I expect more and more teams do follow suit as there's a demand for male dancer.

[browna]

Richardson losing faith in the Colts for Daniel Jones getting the starting nod is pretty ironic, given his tapout midgame last year.

[ResAlien]

Originally Posted by browna

Richardson losing faith in the Colts for Daniel Jones getting the starting nod is pretty ironic, given his tapout midgame last year.

Considering the incentive the organization has for him to succeed how bad must he have looked in TC to lose the starting job to Jones? Quintessential all tools no toolbox

[troutman]

Browns have no cheerleaders at all. That’s why they lose!

The 8 NFL Franchises That Refuse To Have Cheerleaders

https://thespun.com/nfl/the-8-nfl-fr...e-cheerleaders

[cheevers]

Originally Posted by troutman

Browns have no cheerleaders at all. That’s why they lose!

The 8 NFL Franchises That Refuse To Have Cheerleaders

https://thespun.com/nfl/the-8-nfl-fr...e-cheerleaders

I am sure they would if there was anything to cheer about. I do feel bad for any male cheerleaders this year, they are going to hear some horrible abuse given the current state of the crap hole south.

[Sainters7]

Was running around a lot yesterday and wasn't on my phone much, just noticed 37 new posts in the NFL thread from yesterday. Sweet, something big happened I missed! *Starts reading*; Ahh, I see...

[chemgear]