NEED TO KNOW
- Two men made the roster of the Minnesota Vikings cheerleading team this season
- Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn were among those named to the 35-person squad
- After the announcement, fans pushed back on social media, with some even calling for a boycott of the team over the hiring of Shiek and Conn
Amid fan backlash to the hiring of cheerleaders Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, the Minnesota Vikings are defending their squad.
Shiek and Conn were added to the Vikings’ 35-member cheer roster earlier this month, but after they were announced as members of the squad, some critics balked at the inclusion of the male cheerleaders, responding with threats to boycott the Vikings this season, according to NBC News.
“I’m not a Viking fan no more,” one person wrote, while another added: “I just lost all of my respect for the Vikings.”
However, the Vikings stood by Shiek and Conn, releasing a statement in support of the two men, NBC News reported.
“While many fans may be seeing male cheerleaders for the first time at Vikings games, male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading,” the team said in their statement.
While some commenters have threatened to cancel their season tickets over the hiring of the two men, so far, no fans have done so, the Vikings said, according to NBC.
PEOPLE has contacted the Vikings for additional information.
The franchise and squad revealed their new cheerleaders in a video shared on Instagram Saturday, Aug. 9.
“The next generation of cheer has arrived,” read the caption of the video, which featured Conn front and center, then showed Shiek cheering alongside other members of the squad.
Shiek and Conn are not the first male cheerleaders to join the NFL. According to NBC, a third of all NFL teams have male cheerleaders, including the Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints, Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.
Quinton Peron and Napolean Jinnies made history in 2018 when they became the first male cheerleaders in the NFL, dancing alongside the Los Angeles Rams. The men became trailblazers once more when they performed at Super Bowl LIII in 2019.
Despite the backlash, Shiek and Conn have presented a united front online.
“Wait…did someone say our name?” Shiek wrote on Instagram Saturday, Aug. 16, alongside a picture of the triumphant-looking duo.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In a video filmed during this year’s Vikings cheerleading auditions, Shiek said he grew up attending Vikings games with his family, and would always admire the cheerleaders.
Now, he said, he wanted to be “that role model for all those little kids that don’t know this is an option.”
Read the full article here
