published on in News

Being An NFL Cheerleader: The Ugly Truth

This should come as no surprise, but professional sports are incredibly competitive. Who wouldn't want the glory, fame, and paycheck that comes from being a star athlete? According to NFL rules, each team can put together a 53-man roster. With 32 teams, that means there can be just under 1,700 NFL players, chosen from a field of thousands of qualified candidates, at any one time. 

The talent pool for NFL cheerleaders is just as vast and getting selected is just as competitive. As of 2018, Sportster reports that only 26 of the league's 32 teams have cheerleading squads, and for those precious few positions, hundreds of women in each team's metropolitan area audition. "The [New England] Patriots get more than 500 women who try out for the team every year, and they're all good," former Patriots cheerleader Patty Darrah told Global News. She noted, "You have to walk in, shake hands with people and be able to have an educated conversation. With a major NFL team, they want the best of the best. Which means the best dancers but also the best representatives."

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7XCpKCsr5mbwW%2BvzqZmamlnbH93e9Sgo7JlpKfCtbSMp52lZZOdsqa%2By56YnZ2iZA%3D%3D