The NFL Cheerleaders Glamorous Life! Or Not
Everyone in the United States knows about the NFL. A lot of people are avid NFL fans, but I am not. Although, I do pay attention to the cheerleaders, and it’s recently come to my attention of the reality that happens behind the scenes. Here are some of the crazy rules that the NFL cheerleaders must follow.
Cheerleaders must adhere to a strict dress code even when they aren’t working. According to TheThings.com, cheerleaders must follow a dress code which includes not wearing sweatpants. Cheerleaders aren’t allowed to drive in their uniforms, so they must change before leaving. Also, they aren’t allowed to walk around the stadium in their street clothes, so as soon as they are changed, they must leave.
Cheerleaders have an extremely strict no fraternization with the players’ rule. As with any job, co-workers should maintain a professional relationship with one another; however, cheerleaders have a zero contact rule. According to TheThings.com and BusinessInsider.com, Cheerleaders are not to have any public, private, or social relationships with any of the players. If a player follows a cheerleader on social media, she must block the player or she could be fired. To add even more to this rule, if a cheerleader is eating at a restaurant and a player walks in, the cheerleader must leave.
As if having a strict dress code and rules about being around players aren’t bad enough, the ladies must talk in a certain way. According to TheThings.com, in the cheerleader handbook, it states that the ladies have no right to complain or express their opinion. They also have to refrain from using slang or gossiping.
With all these strict rules, cheerleaders must make big bucks, right? Wrong! Cheerleaders make only 10 dollars per hour or less while the players earn around 2 million per year. The NFL generates around 10 billion dollars of revenue each year, but only pay their cheerleaders 10 dollars or less every hour? That doesn’t include all the hours practicing or the events that they are required to show up to. Some of which they don’t even get paid for. On top of that, some cheerleaders are required to show up five hours before kick-off, according to BusinessInsider.com. Cheerleaders make the least amount of money at a game. Both the hot dog vendors and the mascots make more money than any of the cheerleaders.
No sudden change in appearance can be made on any of the cheerleaders. Understandably, cheerleaders can’t make drastic changes in their appearance because of the things they have to do on the field. But some cheer teams have gone to the point of only allowing the ladies to attend approved salons. This includes their weight. According to both BusniessInsider.com and TheThings.com cheerleaders have to stay within three pounds of their ideal body weight which can be considered as their audition weight. If a cheerleader is above the ideal weight, she can either have her entire pay docked or be suspended from either a game or the team.
They get fined if they bring the wrong pom poms. According to the BusinessInsider.com, Oakland Raider cheerleaders can get their entire days pay docked if they bring the wrong pompoms, fail to polish their boots, or forget part of their uniforms. Not to mention that the cheerleaders have to pay for their own uniform out of pocket.
Cheerleaders can’t tell people that they are affiliated with their teams. According to BusinessInsider.com and TheThings.com, some NFL managers are extremely strict about their teams reputation to the point that cheerleaders cannot mention that they are cheerleaders for whatever team they are on.
There are so many rules for the cheerleaders of the NFL that the ladies must follow or they could lose their job. The NFL players do not have any rules like those of the cheerleaders that they must abide by. Due to all of these strict and insane rules, some cheerleaders have been wrongfully terminated. Many lawsuits have been filed against NFL teams by the cheerleaders ranging from equal pay to gender discrimination. I really hope that the ladies of the NFL get recognition and the pay that they rightfully deserve.
Jaxson whitworth • Sep 30, 2020 at 10:09 am
I thought this article was great information.
Hailee Roeske • Sep 30, 2020 at 9:54 am
This is a great article. I didn’t really know that cheerleaders were treated this way. This is really upsetting because many little girls definitely want to become a cheerleader and it is disappointing that they are mistreated.
Gannon Davis • Sep 28, 2020 at 8:32 am
Amazing article Rochelle! I enjoyed reading your article about the NFL cheerleaders. I didn’t know some of these rules. I never have checked to see how much money they make. That kinda sucks that they don’t get paid much for how hard they work at their job. Keep up the great writing!
Jack Salyers • Sep 21, 2020 at 8:09 am
Great article Rochelle! I enjoyed reading this article because I’m a huge fan of the NFL and I never heard anything wrong about the life of the cheerleaders. I didn’t know life as an NFL cheerleader was this rough. Keep up the good work.
Mylie Sipe • Sep 17, 2020 at 12:25 pm
Great article! I never knew that cheerleaders worked hard and had these strict rules they needed to follow. Good job having good info to back up statements. Keep it up!!
Sophie ray • Sep 17, 2020 at 8:32 am
This article is great. I never noticed how hard the cheerleaders worked so hard. This is awesome.. Good job!
Madison Cummins • Sep 17, 2020 at 8:17 am
This is such a great article! I never knew how insane the rules for the cheerleaders were, and you did such a good job of gathering research to back up your statements. I feel like there are a ton of girls who would do anything to be an NFL cheerleader, but most of them don’t realize how much of their lives are controlled. Keep it up!
Nathaniel Moss • Sep 15, 2020 at 8:26 am
Great article I watch the NFL all the time but never thought much about how cheerleaders rules were different. I would of never guessed that they’d have these strict rules or be fired so easily. Nice way of going into detail, Amazing!
Bella Panmei • Sep 14, 2020 at 2:17 pm
Great article Rochelle! I had no clue that the cheerleaders were under such duress. If you had not written this article, I most likely would have never known the specific rules they were enforced to follow. Keep up the great writing!
Stu Engle • Sep 11, 2020 at 4:28 pm
Good article. You supported your information very well- a good topic.
Preston Parker • Sep 11, 2020 at 2:14 pm
Honestly, I love how in-depth this article goes, its like jumping down the rabbit hole. Its clearly very well researched and incredibly interesting to read through. I hope to see articles similar to this one soon!