A clip from the Patriots’ preseason finale has turned a routine pregame moment into a full-blown online argument.
The video centers on a male Patriots cheerleader who brought a high-energy routine to the field and, for better or worse, became the biggest talking point of the night. What was meant to be part of the pregame entertainment quickly spread across social media and drew a mix of praise and criticism from NFL fans.
The reaction was immediate and blunt. One fan wrote, “Robert Kraft owns the Patriots and yes, he’s a jew,” while another mocked the cheerleader’s outfit, saying, “Does that mf really got on a bra 😆 🤣 😂 😹 😆 🤣 😂 wtf 🤔,”
Others pushed back on the changing look of NFL sidelines. “I miss when the male cheerleaders were there for tosses and didn’t have pom-poms- just a bullhorn for cheers 😔,” one fan said.
Another was even harsher: “No male cheerleader is ever ‘stealing the show’ at any NFL game. This is a slap in the face to the women who have done it professionally for decades.
The NFL wonders why viewership is down.”
The uproar comes as male cheerleaders have become more common across the league. The source notes that men have moved from being a rarity to an accepted part of NFL cheer squads, and that the Rams made history when they hired two male dancers as the first official male cheerleaders in the modern NFL era.
The Patriots, too, have embraced that shift. After roughly 35 years of all-female squads, the team has moved toward a more diverse cheerleading group. The organization also made history by naming men - including Dallahi, Parker West, and Steven Sonntag - as official cheerleading captains.
For now, the clip has done exactly what viral NFL moments tend to do: turn a few seconds on the sideline into a loud, messy, very online debate.
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