Minnesota Vikings introduced two male cheerleaders, Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, as part of their 2025 cheerleading squad.
This inclusion sparked significant backlash from some fans online, including threats to stop supporting the team and negative comments, but the Vikings organization has stood firm in support of their cheerleaders.
The team emphasized that male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings squads and are common in collegiate and professional cheerleading.
They pointed out that around one-third of NFL teams have male cheerleaders in 2025 and that Shiek and Conn were selected through the same competitive audition process as their teammates.