Male NFL cheerleaders are speaking out after some people online criticized a Minnesota Vikings social media video featuring Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, two of the team's cheerleaders.
Philadelphia Eagles cheerleaders Dalton Walsh, James LeGette and Alex Fan shared a message of support this week for their NFL colleagues and fellow male cheerleaders.
"I would say to keep on dancing," Walsh told "Good Morning America." "You're already doing what you love, and you were selected through this rigorous process, and you deserve to continue to tune the noise out, because at the end, it's really only you and yourself, and you have to make yourself happy."
In an Instagram reel, shared last week, the Vikings introduced their cheer team, writing in the accompanying caption, "The next generation of cheer has arrived!"
The video shows both Shiek and Conn cheering with the rest of the predominantly female squad, with Conn front and center, starting the video off with a backflip.
While several of the comments were supportive, not everyone reacted positively to the video.
"How embarrassing," one user commented.
Another wrote, "I just lost all of my respect for the Vikings."
The Vikings defended their cheerleaders, saying in a statement that "male cheerleaders have been a part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading."
"We support all our cheerleaders and are proud of the role they play as ambassadors of the organization," the team added.
The first male cheerleaders in the NFL were introduced by the Los Angeles Rams in 2018, and their presence has grown ever since. Roughly a third of all NFL teams now have male cheerleaders today, including the Eagles, Rams, Vikings and Baltimore Ravens.
In the Vikings' statement, the team explained, "Every member of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleaders program has an impressive dance background and went through the same rigorous audition process."
Shiek and Conn appeared to take subtle jabs at their haters over the weekend, sharing a joint Instagram photo of themselves in Vikings uniforms and writing in the caption, "waitdid someone say our name?"
Eagles cheerleader Fan told "GMA" the backlash Shiek and Conn have faced isn't surprising.
"All of us have had experiences like this since the time we started dancing, growing up, far before we became NFL cheerleaders," Fan said. "We know what it feels like to feel that somebody doesn't support you for simply doing something that you enjoy, and so it's been really a pleasure to be on a team that has multiple boys, where we can fall back on each other."
Despite what naysayers may think, LeGette, Fan's Eagles cheerleading teammate, said being an NFL cheerleader is a touchdown in his view.
"Just having this opportunity to do this is life-changing for all of us," LeGette said. "We never know when we have that little boy who also loves to dance, and we have that amazing opportunity to show them that they can do anything that they put their minds to."
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