February 3, 2019 will go down in the history of the Super Bowl as an important and memorable date. As the Los Angeles Rams and the New England Patriots lock horns in the field, outside, two young guys – Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies — will be creating history. They will be the first male cheerleaders in NFL history to perform in the Super Bowl. Both of them joined the Rams in March 2018. In the 100-year history of NFL, this is the first time male cheerleaders will be included. Jesse Hernandez of the New Orleans Saints is another male cheerleader but since the Saints lost to the Rams, Hernandez won’t be seen performing.
History Of Male Cheerleaders
Though Peron and Jinnies will hog the limelight this year at the Super Bowl, they are definitely not the first male cheerleaders. In fact, if you go back to its roots, the first cheering events were organized by men. Sports was clearly a big entertainment for the menfolk. Hence, back in the 1890s, Princeton University was the first college where a pep club was established and an organized yell was recorded for the purpose of cheering. Next, the University Of Minnesota organized cheerleading for the first time and also had the first school fight song. Women got introduced to cheerleading in the 1920s. By the 50s, they were dominating the sport. Though 97% cheerleaders are female, about 50% of collegiate cheerleaders are male.
Some Famous Men Who Did Cheerleading
Long before the likes of Peron and Jinnes prevailed, there were a string of men (who went on to be famous later) who opted for cheerleading. See if you know some of them:
George W. Bush — Former President George W. Bush used to be a head cheerleader at Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts.
Aaron Spelling — One of the television industry’s biggest producers ever was Aaron Spelling. But much before he claimed fame behind the scenes, he used to be a cheerleader at the Methodist University!
Dwight D. Eisenhower — Looks like our presidents love cheerleading! When Eisenhower faced a knee injury while tackling the legendary Jim Thorpe and Carlisle Indians, he injured his knee. His football career reached its conclusion, and he opted to do cheerleading then.
Franklin D. Roosevelt — Roosevelt is known to have led a cheering crowd in a football game against the Browns when he was in Harvard.
Kirk Douglas And Michael Douglas — The father-son Douglas duo both have a history of cheerleading. While Douglas senior honed his dancing skills at Amsterdam High School, Amsterdam, New York, his son did the same at Choate.
Men Being Stereotyped
In a world where toxic masculinity and homophobia still prevail, the male population is forced to follow stereotypes even if they don’t want to. If they dare to break the rules and opt for cheerleading, they are mostly declared effeminate and are even bullied. Our society is not kind to those who have a slightly different body shape or nature than the rest. Homophobics think that cheerleading is a woman’s sport and only women should stick to it. It is great to see men breaking those stereotypes and coming forward to accept this as a men’s sport as much as women’s sport. Just like for years, women were not considered eligible to play sports that stood for ruggedness, aggressiveness, and a lot of power.
How Does It Feel To Be The First
Peron and Jinnies are making news everywhere and have clearly shown the path to many others who had hesitations before. Peron appeared on Good Morning America and had a great message for the country, “I think we can both say we have both been reached out to by so many men that are so excited to try out, and not just men our age but young men trying out for their junior high school dance team or cheer team and high schools, and it’s exciting to see society change a little bit.” Jinnies is equally excited to be part of the big game happening this weekend!
With all that excitement that has already made the Rams vs, Patriots game an event to watch out for, make sure you are in front of your television set on February 3, 6:30 PM EST. As you see those two guys making history, make sure that your mind is also free from all kinds of stereotypes and cliches!