[Music]
most NFL teams have cheerleaders you see
them on the sidelines during games and
sometimes during halftime looks like
they're having fun right but recent
reports of harassment lack of
compensation and gender discrimination
have shined a light on the treatment of
cheerleaders in the NFL
the New York Times reported on some
alleged details of the job that are
sketchy to say the least we talked to
four former NFL cheerleaders who shared
their experiences my experience was very
positive
I really felt empowered by the entire
experience the first team to have
cheerleaders was the Baltimore Colts in
1954
since then getting a highly coveted spot
on a squad has become super competitive
every year thousands of women try out
for the job that's right it's a paid
position which is officially considered
to be part-time and each team sets the
guidelines and pay scales for its
respective squad not only do the
cheerleaders have to be on hand for
games they also have mandatory practices
and appearances but as it turns out
they're not always getting properly
compensated for their time in 2014 the
Oakland Raiders paid a 1.2 million
dollar settlement to former cheerleaders
after a class-action lawsuit alleging
wage theft I think that the women are
intimidated Sharron Vinick is an
attorney worked on the 2014 class action
lawsuit against the Raiders the women
are told that they're really really
fortunate to be dancing and if they
don't want to dance they don't have to
and they should be grateful for whatever
opportunity they have but compare that
to the guys who are the quarterbacks I
mean they're very lucky to be
quarterbacks but they're still paid
millions of dollars and there's the
sense of equity that some of the women
just don't perceive but this spring
thousands of women still showed up to
try and make the cut for
season we wanted to find out what the
job is really like from the women who've
actually done it
twin sisters Dresden and Skylar were
nell cheered for the Houston Texans from
2010 to 2014 if I do have a daughter in
the future I would definitely allow her
to cheer for the Houston Texans Jennifer
Omohundro cheered for two teams over the
course of six seasons she started with
the Tennessee Titans in 1999 and
finished with the Atlanta Falcons in
2005 I'm sad to hear that there's
actually this really negative press
that's going around it's a wonderful
experience I think it's for everyone
kind of how you treat it and how you
take it
Rachel Swartz cheered for the
Philadelphia Eagles for the 2015 and
2016 seasons my experience was very
positive
I really felt empowered by the entire
experience it is really unfortunate to
hear a lot of the other stories about
women who have not had the same positive
experience I have we asked these former
cheerleaders to address the issues
raised in the recent headlines and we
started with compensation can you give
me an idea of like what you were paid or
what you could take home in a season on
average I mean would you feel it was
appropriate if I asked you how much you
made so no we were paid for every hour
we were in uniform or in practice it
would not be something that you would
live off it's a long time I don't I
don't remember but I can show you it was
definitely minimal I think we got 200
yeah $200 a game okay without $200 a
game plus practicing plus the
appearances we got paid for practicing
we got paid for appearances if we had to
drive to the appearance that got
reimbursed for paid or mileage for the
mileage I read articles about like the
Oakland Raiders are and I'm just like in
shock I'm like how does this happen
the cheerleaders for the Oakland Raiders
for example got $1,250 per season
we understand from reports that mascots
get paid between forty and sixty
thousand dollars per season plus
benefits and the lease played NFL player
someone who's a benchwarmer doesn't play
in a game gets paid $100,000 but $1,250
is less money than someone who's selling
hot dogs in the city stands gets paid
NFL cheerleading squads have strict
social media restrictions so strict in
fact that a former New Orleans Saints
cheerleader was fired over an Instagram
post she's currently suing for
discrimination according to the former
cheerleaders we talked to these
restrictions are common I know it's a
bit different in other organizations but
we did not have Instagram Twitter
Facebook who weren't allowed to have any
of those and that was mainly for our
protection I think there had been
situations in the past where security
measures had to be taken and I think
this was just one of them and this was
just one of the rules they had in order
to make sure everyone felt safe and
protected personally I always thought
the rule was kind of stupid I mean to be
quite frank you know it's just like how
are you going to tell me that I can't
post part of my life I can see why for
the most part so for the organization
telling you know you personally that you
can't post what you do most of your days
I thought it was really really done but
I've it's so funny and when people like
kind of retire we say or don't make the
team and you see their Instagram our
Facebook and it's like pictures while
the no social media rule is common some
teams like the Denver Broncos allow
their cheerleaders to post from social
media accounts officially affiliated
with the team one of the most common
rules for NFL cheerleaders is that
interaction with players is strictly
prohibited and violation of this rule
can result in immediate termination
there were general rules of no
fraternization meaning like no dating
the players even though they've run past
us on the field sometimes that would be
the only time we were really around them
I mean they're professionals they're
doing their thing as athletes and
we were chewing hours they make it very
clear yes once you make the team you
know they give this big speech that you
cannot be associated with the players
you we will get fired and they won't
yeah they'd even go as far as saying if
say you're at a restaurant and a couple
of players come in you know we would
have to leave because they don't even
want us in the same room I think it's
sort of like a rule that you would see
in any other business don't get your
coworkers I think it's the same type of
principle there's still some players
that reach out to cheerleaders and the
chillers reach out to them so obviously
we sign these contracts but not everyone
abides by the rules it's just I think
human nature I would say there were some
uncomfortable situations but the
organization did everything to really
protect us and you know really preempt
any of those situations whether that's
by having security with us at all
appearances or you know when you're in
the Suites taking pictures having
somebody hold a football instead of
putting their arms around us I do think
again as these situations come up the
organization really took the right steps
in making sure we felt safe at all times
I think that comes the territory you
know with anything if you're going to
put a bunch of girls together there's
gonna be some mostly male interaction or
male attention that you really don't
want so because of that we always had a
police escort that would walk Texans are
very good very good at making sure that
we felt safe our second year a few girls
have like stalkers the Texans
organizations like we're right on it
they never had us worried or question
our safety every time we practiced we
had a police officer with us we never
were like alone so the women we talked
to seemed to have experiences that were
overwhelmingly positive but every team
is different and only time will tell if
the ones under scrutiny will actually
change for the better
what would be your advice to a
cheerleader an NFL cheerleader who is on
the fence about seeking further help
about a possible injustice my advice
would be that you should think hard
about whether you want to be part of a
system that allows this to happen or
whether you want to change that system
because it's only by women like our
brave clients Lacey and Sarah standing
up and advocating for a change that
you're going to see differences as you
go forward so I encourage all women to
stand up for the world they'd like to
see every experience is different and if
you're a former NFL cheerleader and you
want to share your story with us we'd
love to hear it and we'd love to tell it
so if you want to share it with us
please email me at G Flannigan at
Business Insider com