NFL teams with male cheerleaders: Updated list for 2025 season, from Vikings to Eagles

JUMP TO: 

• How many NFL teams have male cheerleaders in 2025?
• What NFL teams have male cheerleaders in 2025?
• Why more NFL teams are adding male cheerleaders
• NFL teams without male cheerleaders
• Does every NFL franchise have cheerleaders?
• What was the first NFL team with male cheerleaders?
• Who was the first NFL male cheerleader?
• Male cheerleaders history in the NFL
• Male cheerleaders in other sports

For most NFL teams, cheerleaders are an essential part of the gameday experience. While most fans would rather see their team win than see cheerleaders put on a great show, the presence of cheerleaders helps the NFL adopt some of the best aspects of a college football environment.

Like many professions, cheerleading has changed over time. Male cheerleaders have become more common across different sports in recent years, and the NFL is no exception.

After a portion of the league employed at least one male cheerleader at the close of the 2010s, the number of teams with one or more male cheerleaders is increasing.

Here's what you need to know about the NFL's male cheerleaders for the 2025 season and which teams have them. 

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How many NFL teams have male cheerleaders in 2025?

There are currently 71 male cheerleaders across 11 different NFL teams, according to OutSports. 

26 of the NFL's 71 male cheerleaders are classified as stunt performers, meaning they are typically utilized in roles that take advantage of their strength. Still, that means the majority are classified as dancers alongside their female colleagues. 

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What NFL teams have male cheerleaders in 2025?

11 NFL teams employ male cheerleaders for the 2025 season:

* — Only stunt men.

The Panthers, Falcons and Chiefs have previously employed male cheerleaders but do not as of 2025.

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Why more NFL teams are adding male cheerleaders

While it hasn't been uncommon historically for male cheerleaders to serve as stunt men and utilize their strength to lift up other cheerleaders, the widespread introduction of male cheerleaders as dancers is a newer concept in the NFL. 

By adding male cheerleaders, some teams are looking to break down what they see as gender stereotypes and barriers that prevent men from doing what they want to do.

New Vikings cheerleader Blaize Shiek echoed that sentiment when he joined Minnesota's cheer squad, explaining that he wanted to be a "role model for other little kids who don't know that this is an option."

NFL teams may also see male cheerleaders as a way to appeal to a broader audience. "Many" of the league's male cheerleaders are gay, according to OutSports, and bringing in more gay individuals as fans makes sense for teams that want to have the widest reach possible.

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NFL teams without male cheerleaders

21 NFL teams don't have male cheerleaders, but seven of them don't have cheerleaders at all. That means 14 have all-female cheerleaders, with the caveat that the Packers don't employ their own cheerleading squad and instead use cheerleaders from local colleges. 

Here are the teams without a male cheerleader in 2025:

• Bears*
• Bengals
• Bills*
• Broncos
• Browns*
• Cardinals
• Chargers*
• Chiefs
• Colts
• Cowboys 
• Dolphins
• Falcons
• Giants*
• Jaguars
• Jets*
• Lions
• Packers
• Panthers
• Raiders
• Steelers*
• Texans

* — Don't have any cheerleaders

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Does every NFL franchise have cheerleaders?

25 of the NFL's 32 teams have cheerleaders, as of 2025. Here are the seven that do not: 

• Bears
• Bills
• Browns
• Chargers
• Giants
• Jets
• Steelers

Of that group, only the Giants have never had cheerleaders. The Steelers and Browns haven't had cheerleaders for several decades, while the Jets and Chargers discontinued their cheerleading squads in the early 2020s. 

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What was the first NFL team with male cheerleaders?

The Ravens became the first NFL team to hire male cheerleaders in 1998, though all were brought aboard to join the stunt team rather than serve as dancers.

In 2018, the Rams became the first NFL team to hire full-time male cheerleaders who held the same role as female cheerleaders. The Saints also hired male cheerleaders ahead of the same season. Those two teams notably met in the NFC championship game at the end of the 2018 season. 

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Who was the first NFL male cheerleader?

20 years after the Dolphins denied Glenn Welt when he attempted to become the first male cheerleader to try out for an NFL team, the Ravens became the first team to introduce male cheerleaders as stunt men in 1998. Today, Baltimore boasts more male cheerleaders than any team in the NFL — but all are on the stunt team. 

The Rams became the first known team to employ male cheerleaders as dancers when they hired Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies in 2018. The Saints followed suit ahead of the 2018 season, and a handful of teams added male cheerleaders to their squads in 2019. 

In the eyes of some, the NFL's first actual male cheerleader might have been none other than actor Robin Williams. Williams wasn't an official Broncos cheerleader, but he joined Denver's cheerleading squad in uniform on the field during a game against the Patriots while filming an TV episode inspired by the Welt saga in 1979.

Male cheerleaders history in the NFL

The topic of male cheerleaders in the NFL first surfaced when the Dolphins denied a man the chance to try out in 1978, but another two decades went by before men appeared on the sidelines as NFL cheerleaders — and four decades went by until men were hired as full-time dancers. 

Male cheerleaders were virtually non-existent in the NFL outside of stunt teams until the Rams hired Peron and Jinnies in 2018. While the Ravens might have paved the way for men to break into cheerleading at the highest level when they hired stunt men in 1998, the Rams and Saints started a trend with their decisions to add male dancers in 2018.

A handful of teams immediately followed suit in 2019 by adding male dancers, and the Vikings proved in 2025 that pattern is not going away despite a constantly changing political climate in the U.S.

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Male cheerleaders in other sports

Male cheerleaders remain rare in other sports, but the NFL isn't the only league with co-ed cheer or dance teams. Some NBA teams feature men on their dance squads, including the Celtics and Suns. Boston made headlines by hiring Patrick Opran as a member of their dance team.

Many other sports are not as conducive to cheerleaders at all — most MLB teams do not have cheerleaders or even dance squads — so the NFL is primarily where male cheerleaders can be found, but many college cheerleading squads feature men in stunt roles, where they utilize their strength during cheer formations. 

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