August 19, 2025

HOW IT STARTED:

A source says, “[Original Cowboys president and general manager Tex Schramm] knew some people would be adamantly opposed. Tom [Landry] was never consulted. But Tex talked about how, when a network telecast went to commercial, the camera usually looked for a quick shot of a ‘honey’ in the stands. So Tex said, ‘Instead, the camera will spend five seconds on one of our girls on the sideline,’ which is exactly what started happening. Tex said, ‘That’s how we’ll build our image.’

“Remember, the late ’70s were an era of the Farrah Fawcett posters, with the nipples showing through the suit. So Tex and [original Cowboys vice president of player personnel Gil Brandt] were the first guys to say, ‘We’re going to do a sexy poster, too.’ They did a team picture’ of the Cheerleaders and Gil sent thousands of ’em all over the country. Their goal was to get a Cheerleader poster up in every locker room of every college in the country, including NAIA and Division II. They wanted it tasteful, but with cleavage and asses. They wanted it provocative. They succeeded in blanketing the country with that poster.”

Listen, dear Cheerleader, to current Cowboy P.R. director Greg Aiello: “The word Tex said most was unique.’ And he really focused on the Cheerleaders … The typical notion of cheerleaders was leading cheers. But obviously, half the big deal of looking at cheerleaders was that they were the prettiest girls. So Tex said, okay, let’s put ’em in sexy costumes. Let’s turn ’em into showgirls.

“So there were a whole lot of ways to like the Cowboys. If you were religious, you could like Tom and tune out Tex and the Hollywood stuff. If you liked Cheerleaders and flashy uniforms, you could tune out Tom.”

—Skip Bayless, from his 1990 book, God’s Coach: The Hymns, Hype, and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry’s Cowboys.

How it’s going: NFL Tries Male Cheerleaders. That’s the Left’s Plan to Win Back Men? Ultimately, this moment isn’t about cheerleaders. It’s about holding on to the last vestiges of collective non-politicized entertainment.

Twelve NFL teams are reportedly incorporating male cheerleaders this season — the Minnesota Vikings, the Baltimore Ravens, the Los Angeles Rams, the New Orleans Saints, the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, the New England Patriots, the Tennessee Titans, the Indianapolis Colts, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Carolina Panthers. More than 30 percent of the league will feature cheer teams in which men take a spot away from women, The Spun reported Tuesday. This fact suggests this isn’t a one-off or a publicity stunt. It’s coordinated. And it forces a more serious question: is this really the cultural front the left wants to fight on — especially after losing male voters by double digits?

Perhaps they want to send the message that men, like Barbie, can be who they want to be — whether that be a tough football player on the field or a cheerleader just beyond NFL bleachers. But if the goal is to create a culture in which they can win back men, this doesn’t only register as tone-deaf — it feels like outright trolling.

The confusion isn’t about “tolerance.” Most people aren’t up in arms because they can’t stand the sight of a man doing high kicks. It’s more basic than that. Given that cheerleading squads were introduced to capture and hold the attention of the mostly male fan base, it’s the creeping feeling that the male attraction to female beauty is being impugned, that the rules are being rewritten in real time, and no one asked if we were okay with it.

The male cheerleaders aren’t just professional pompom holders and pyramid stackers; they’re symbols in a broader struggle over who gets to define normal. And much like the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports — a debate that clearly hurt Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign — the push feels artificially escalated. People didn’t ask for this, yet they’re expected to embrace it or stay silent.

—Julianna Frieman, the American Spectator, yesterday.

UPDATE:

Posted at 12:30 pm by Ed Driscoll