Washington Proves It's Possible to Put More Skin in Redskins
The old bromide has it that NFL cheerleaders are there to provide a bitta sex with the violence.
They do serve a higher purpose, of course, being on hand to entertain the crowd during The Shield's endless stream of stoppages, from TV timeouts to video reviews.
They're fixtures at high-profile team PR events, too, and their calendars add pocket change to the kajillionaire owners.
That's the crew who started it all.
Back in 1967, Dallas Cowboys owner Tex Schramm was inspired by a local stripper strutting her stuff at the stadium. It didn't take him long to connect the dots, and professional dancers became a sideline fixture.
With that sorta backstory, it's no wonder that envelopes get pushed:
- There's a crush of women who crave the gig, so paying them a commensurate wage isn't necessary to field a squad; and
- That can lead some of them to use it while they've got it and jump at other glamor-type opportunities on the side.
So where does an objective line get drawn in stuff like this?
How about consent?
Not if you're dancing et al for the Washington Redskins:
- Get flown to Costa Rica for the annual cheerleader calendar shoot ... check
- Get asked to pose topless for a few shots ... check, kinda
- Discover dudes with privileges have been invited to watch ... whoa
- Get told to pair up with some of them to be their escorts at a local club ... pimp range
Damn.
It's not as if these squads don't have enough grievances already, from double standards to extreme body monitoring.
And yet, the girls keep flocking to auditions.
Seems like everyone has their own fantasy.
As long as they do, the reality is a mere annoyance until it isn't.
But by then, the cycle only starts again.
And so it goes.