What It's Like Being An NFL Cheerleader
An interview with a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader.
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I’ll be honest: My understanding of what it takes to become a cheerleader begins and ends with Bring It On and Taylor Swift’s lyric in ‘You Belong With Me’: She's Cheer Captain and I'm on the bleachers.
I really was (and still am) on the bleachers, but I’m still fascinated by that perfect hair and makeup, those routines, and—of course—those outfits.
Some may say that cheerleading at the highest level is competitive cheer, like that Netflix show I won’t be discussing. And listen: It is ELITE, but, to me, elite cheerleading are those who cheer for football teams.
I had a friend in college who was a cheerleader for The University of Georgia and their schedule was absolutely insane.
They really were athletes and had to juggle *so* much.
But the pressure of being a college football cheerleader is nowhere as intense as being a cheerleader for an NFL team.
To better understand what it’s actually like to be a cheerleader for an NFL team, I spoke with Jacey Brady.
Not only is Brady my step-cousin (we love to see it!), but she’s also a former NFL cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins.
Brady has been a cheerleader since she was four years old and went on to cheer competitively, and in high school.
Football runs in Brady’s family. Her brother Joe is the Buffalo Bills’ interim offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
When Brady went to college, she decided to secretly apply for the Dolphins tryouts and plot twist: She made it!
Let’s! Go!
Brady kindly answered all of my questions about being a cheerleader—including whether they can hang out with the players…
Read our full conversation below!
An Interview With A Former NFL Cheerleader
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. You can follow Brady on Instagram here.
First off, can you tell me what you do currently for work?
For the past 8.5 years (the first year at my job coincided with my last year cheering), I have worked as a Cognitive Development Specialist at a private practice in Davie, FL. It’s a fancy name for a teacher (with a twist), which is what I went to undergrad for.
In 2020, however, I decided to go back to school for Speech-Language Pathology and am finally entering my externships come the new year, so I have officially left my previous job as of last week.
Before becoming a cheerleader for an NFL team, how much experience did you have dancing or cheering?
I’ve seen some photos when I was very young in tutus that would imply that I had some dance experience, but cheerleading is my only real background.
I cheered recreationally from when I was maybe 4-5 years old, continued that until I cheered competitively for many years, and then finally for my high school.
So, after around 13-14 years, give or take, I *thought* I was officially hanging up my pom-poms.
What inspired you to audition?
One of my best friends had started dancing for the Florida Panthers—our hockey team—which had me thinking about the idea of professional cheering. But I personally liked football more and grew up in a die-hard Dolphins fan household, so I just combined the two, and the rest is history.
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