By ERIC BLUM, US SPORTS REPORTER
Published: 17:05 EDT, 19 August 2025 | Updated: 17:05 EDT, 19 August 2025
Former college football head coach and current United States Senator Tommy Tuberville wants the NFL to not lose its masculine image amid male cheerleaders being added to league squads.
The Minnesota Vikings added two male cheerleaders to its sideline supporters for the first time a few weeks ago, a decision that has been slammed by some.
Tuberville, a Donald Trump backer in his policies against biological men competing in women's sports, does not want to see the NFL fold into that inclusive narrative.
'I would like to ask the ownership of the NFL and the commissioner, what the hell are you doing?' Tuberville said to OutKick.
'If you're going to be woke, and if you're going to try to take the men out of men's sports, which is what they're doing, they're trying to take gender and try and make it more about gender than about masculinity, then you're going to have a huge problem.'
'You can see Minnesota doing it, they're one of the blue states, we've lost them, and they're more into socialism and it's about 150 genders. But at the end of the day, I hope to God it doesn't come South.'
US Senator Tommy Tuberville has slammed the NFL for its inclusion of male cheerleaders
The Minnesota Vikings became the latest team to include male cheerleaders this season
'This is not about just a couple of people being men cheerleaders, it's about pushing a narrative about wanting to put gender into sports and let everyone know that we're going to take the masculinity out of it a little bit, and that's not going to happen in the South.'
The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have male cheerleaders, adding them in 2018.
Since then, the Baltimore Ravens have introduced several males on their cheerleading team.
That pair of precursors hailing from California and Maryland, two Democrat strongholds.
The NFL does not have any ban on gender in cheerleading squads, with many colleges around the country having long-standing traditions of male cheerleaders.
Minnesota Vikings