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Philadelphia Eagles getting more male cheerleaders? Video emerges amid outrage over Vikings' Blaize Shiek, Louie Conn
Minnesota Vikings' choice to have two male cheerleaders – Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn on their squad for the season, has drawn massive backlash online.
Minnesota Vikings is facing immense backlash for adding male cheerleaders Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn to the squad for the year. This comes despite NFL having had male cheerleaders for some time.
Shiek and Conn have decided not to cave in and even clapped back at haters with a comment saying “wait…did someone say our name?.”
However, amid the outrage, a new video has emerged that could be putting another NFL team in the eye of the storm – the Philadelphia Eagles.
Philadelphia Eagles getting more male cheerleaders? Watch
A clip shared on X goes with a post that claims the Eagles are adding multiple male cheerleaders in their 2025 squad. The post claims that the Eagles made this announcement in a video, and the clip shows three male Eagles cheerleaders fist-bumping. The in-video text reads “POV: 5th year meets 1st years.”
The video has been shared via an account calling itself Pep and also by sports media personality, Dov Kleiman. Hindustan Times could not verify this video independently. However, it must be noted that the Eagles roster for 2025 has already listed three male cheerleaders – Alex Fan, Dalton Walsh, and James LeGette. They are the same three people who appear in the video.
Also Read | Did Blaize Shiek, Vikings' male cheerleader, quit amid backlash? Here's the truth
Eagles will start this season with the largest number of male cheerleaders the team has ever had. Speaking to 6abc, James said “Just having the opportunity to do this is life-changing for all of us.” Meanwhile, Fan added “It's really been a pleasure to be on a team that has multiple boys where we can fall back on each other.”
“I would say to keep on dancing,” said Dalton, adding, “you're already doing what you love.”
Eagles draw new ire; Vikings step in to defend choices
The post of the Eagles' male cheerleaders is drawing ire from some fans. One person on X said “It's all so tiresome.” Another commented, “I can’t possibly understand who this is for? Who is yearning for effeminate male cheerleaders in the NFL?…”.
Yet another person made their disapproval known, saying, “Who wants to see that? As an Eagles fan, it's embarrassing. The male cheerleaders in college are just there to lift, throw, and cat h the females. This, is a different thing entirely. I think it's ridiculous.”
The Vikings, meanwhile, issued a statement after their choice of cheerleaders faced backlash. “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. We support all of our cheerleaders and are proud of the role they play as ambassadors of the organization,” they said to NBC News.
The team also said that though there were reports of fans threatening to cancel their tickets, they had not done so yet.
About a third of NFL teams have male cheerleaders, and until today Justine Lindsay, the first openly transgender cheerleader, was in the league as well, but they have announced a shock departure from the Carolina Panthers.
