 | |
| Formation | September 1961 |
|---|---|
Membership | 36 |
Director | Kelli Finglass |
| Affiliations | Dallas Cowboys |
| Website | dallascowboyscheerleaders |
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (sometimes initialized as DCC, and officially nicknamed "America's Sweethearts") are the National Football League cheerleading squad representing the Dallas Cowboys team. [1]
During a game between the Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons at the Cotton Bowl during the 1967 season, [2] the short skirted, well-endowed stripper named Bubbles Cash caused a tremendous stir in the crowd that turned to cheers when she walked down the stands staircase on the 50-yard line carrying cotton candy in each hand. She became an instant public sensation in Dallas, also gaining attention from Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm. Understanding the importance of the entertainment industry to the Cowboys' profitability, Schramm was inspired to form a cheerleading squad dressed in similar fashion to Cash. [3]
Preparing for the 1970 season, Schramm decided to change the Cheerleaders' image to boost attendance. At first the main change was to create an all-female squad and change the uniforms and style of cheerleading routines to be primarily dance and less like traditional acrobatic routines like that of high school or college cheerleading squads. The ten local high school cheerleaders who were selected for the 1970 season were also involved in the task of totally redesigning the uniforms and creating new dance style cheer routines under Dee Brock's direction and with the help of a choreographer. In 1971, the qualification rules changed to allow not only local female cheerleaders to compete for a spot on the squad, but also high school drill team officers. Then in 1972, Texie Waterman, a New York choreographer, was recruited and assigned to auditioning and training an entirely new female squad who would all be over 18 years of age, searching for attractive appearance, athletic ability, and raw talent as performers. Since the 1972 squad consisted of adults, this allowed the possibility of again redesigning the uniforms to introduce a more revealing look (most notably transitioning from the traditional cheerleader skirt to hot pants) closer to the classic DCC image that is known today. [4]
Even greater national attention came in the fall of 1977 when the Cowboys, along with designer and photographer Bob Shaw, produced the first NFL cheerleader poster for the Dallas Cowboys. This, and an Esquire magazine article by Shaw in October 1977, led to the squad appearing on two network TV specials, NBC Rock-n-Roll Sports Classic and The Osmond Brothers Special on ABC. Also that year, the DCC produced their own one-hour special, The 36 Most Beautiful Girls in Texas, which aired on ABC prior to the season opener of Monday Night Football (which coincidentally was a game that the Cowboys hosted). On January 14, 1979, one week before the Cowboys played in Super Bowl XIII, the made-for-TV movie The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders aired. Starring Bert Convy and Jane Seymour, it had a 48% share of the national television audience. [5] [6]
On January 13, 1980, a sequel to the original TV movie, The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders II, aired. The Cheerleaders have made many other TV appearances since then, and their likeness has been featured on various merchandise, such as posters, T-shirts, trading cards, and calendars.
The DCC has also toured throughout the United States (on and off the field), as well as overseas. Included in these tours are regular appearances in United Service Organizations (USO) tours, which began during the 1979 holiday season for U.S. troops stationed in South Korea.
The DCC held a ceremony inaugurating the second game of the 1994 FIFA World Cup between Spain and South Korea.
Former DCCs Kelli McGonagill Finglass and Judy Trammell became the squad's director and choreographer, respectively.
From 2006 to 2021, the Cheerleaders produced their own reality television series, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team , which aired on Country Music Television (CMT) during the NFL football season. The series followed the auditioning process of the annual squad. Traditionally, each episode would include segments of the “Training Camp Candidates” and “Veteran Candidates” dancing along to music and learning new choreography from guest choreographers. Despite the show running successfully for 16 seasons, CMT decided to not renew the show for its 17th season. A new series, America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders aired on Netflix on June 20, 2024.
The DCC also held an opening ceremony and podium at the 2013 and 2018, 2021 and 2023 United States Grands Prix races in Austin, Texas. They received the FIFA delegation to promote the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The DCC releases several calendars every year. More recently, in addition to their annual swimsuit calendar, they also release an annual "sideline calendar," featuring photos of the DCC cheering and performing at Cowboys home games. For decades the DCC also act as advocates for female empowerment in the DFW metroplex.
The DCC were the subject of the documentary Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders released in November 2018. [7] It focuses on Suzanne Mitchell who was the director of the team from 1972 to 1989.
In December 2021, the magazine Texas Monthly released an 8-episode podcast called "America's Girls," featuring interviews with former cheerleaders and other people involved with the DCC. [8]
Along with their two TV movies, the DCC has also appeared on numerous TV shows and specials as performers, guest acting roles, and game show contestants. Some of the shows on which they have appeared include:
Many former DCCs have gone on to achieve success in entertainment, sports marketing, and other notable endeavors. They include:
Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. was an American professional football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to as "Tex", became the head of the Cowboys when the former expansion team started operations in 1960.
Kristin Nicole Adams, née Holt, is a television personality, entertainment news correspondent, and singer.
NFL Cheerleader Playoffs is a television show that debuted in 2006 on the NFL Network. The official channel of the National Football League premiered each episode on Saturdays at 3 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team is an American reality television series that aired on CMT from September 29, 2006, to November 27, 2021. The series follows the auditioning process and the forming of the Dallas Cowboys' annual Cheerleading squad. The series features director Kelli McGonagill Finglass and choreographer Judy Trammell.
National Football League Cheerleading or simply NFL Cheerleading, is a group of professional cheerleading organizations in the United States. 24 of the 32 NFL teams include a cheerleading squad in their franchise. In 1954, the Baltimore Colts became the first NFL team to have cheerleaders. They were part of Baltimore's Marching Colts.
The Seahawks Dancers, formerly known as the Sea Gals, are the official cheerleading squad of the NFL team Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks Dancers perform a variety of dance routines during home games. Previously, a select performance team called the Sea Gals Show Group traveled to perform in parades, events overseas and at home with the USO. They also participated in events with other NFL Cheerleaders around the world.
Kelli McGonagill Finglass is the current director, and former member, of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She appears in and is an executive producer of the CMT former reality series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
Melissa Katherine Rycroft-Strickland is an American television personality, host, and dancer. She is a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and television personality. She has participated as a bachelorette on the thirteenth season of ABC's The Bachelor, on the CMT reality TV series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, and on the eighth and fifteenth seasons of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. Rycroft went on to host reality competition shows such as Bachelor Pad and Redneck Island.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league with teams in the United States and Canada. Nearly every team, with one exception, has a squad of dancers for cheerleading that are usually involved in dancing, charity work, fundraisers, and modeling. However, the #MeToo Movement has resulted in many NBA teams replacing their all-girl dance teams with family-friendly hype teams in recent years.
The New York Jets Flight Crew, recognized as the official cheerleading squad for the New York Jets, a prominent team in the National Football League (NFL). This dynamic group was originally founded in 2006 under the name New York Jets Flag Crew, featuring a small ensemble of six talented female flag carriers. Among them was Gina G., a standout from Kings Park, New York, whose exceptional performance skills and leadership were instrumental in driving the crew to immediate success and popularity.
The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders is the professional cheerleading squad of the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. The squad performs a variety of dance moves at the Hard Rock Stadium, the home stadium of the Dolphins. The Dolphins Cheerleaders released an annual swimsuit calendar every year. The squad hosts auditions every May. Like most other squads in the league, the MDC also has a youth cheer squad and help mentor young girls in the Miami area. The squad also makes USO trips. Every year, the MDC sends a cheerleader to the Pro Bowl. The MDC also sends a number of alumni to the Indian Premier League every year.
The Chicago Honey Bears were a cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group performed at Bears games at Soldier Field. After Super Bowl XX, the squad was disbanded, and currently, the Bears are one of the eight NFL teams that do not have cheerleaders, along with the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Laura Lynette Vikmanis is an American dietitian, personal trainer, and dancer who was a professional cheerleader for the Cincinnati Ben–Gals, the cheerleading squad of the Cincinnati Bengals. She was the oldest cheerleader in National Football League history, at 40 years of age when she joined in 2009. She is also a co-author of the book It's Not About the Pom-Poms.
Judy Tharp Trammell is the current head choreographer of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. She is also a former member of the squad. She appears in the CMT reality series Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team.
Cheer is an American sport television docuseries airing on Netflix starting in January 2020. The six-part series follows the nationally ranked forty-member Navarro College Bulldogs Cheer Team from Corsicana, Texas, under the direction of coach Monica Aldama, as they prepare to compete in the National Cheerleading Championship held annually in Daytona Beach, Florida. The episodes focus especially on five individual Cheer Team members and include elements of the history of cheerleading, including the formation of the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA).
Dee Brock is an American educator, model, and cheerleading director. She is the founder and first director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Brock was hired by Tex Schramm in the early 1960s to create a cheerleading squad for the Dallas Cowboys. She brought the squad to the Cowboys first Super Bowl appearance in 1971 at Super Bowl V. Originally a co-ed squad consisting of high school students, the squad was later rebranded by Brock as an all-girl group. She was responsible for racially integrating the squad in 1965 and designing the first iteration of the now-famous uniform.
Suzanne Mitchell was an American artistic director and public relations professional who served as the director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders from 1976 to 1989. She was responsible for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders rise in popularity and their status as sex symbols. Mitchell was also responsible for creating the role of goodwill ambassadors for the cheerleaders, requiring them to volunteer in orphanages, hospitals, and at telethons to boost public image and organized their involvement in touring with United Service Organizations.
Texie Jane Waterman was an American choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher. She was the first choreographer for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Abigail Klein is an American actress and former professional cheerleader. She is best known for playing the role of Stephanie Johnson on the NBC and Peacock Daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives since 2022. She is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is an American sport television docuseries which was released on Netflix on June 20, 2024. The seven-episode series follows the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, the official cheer squad of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys. The series follows the 2023–24 team's selection and digs into the thirty-six-person squad's daily life. It is considered to be the successor series for Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team which aired on CMT from 2006 to 2021.
