The Minnesota Vikings' employment of male cheerleaders for the 2025 season has prompted growing controversy, and now a former player is weighing in.
The team's new male cheerleaders, Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn, have been the topic of fierce social media debate after speaking out against critics, as the team has even put out a statement in defense of the two men on the cheer squad.
Former Vikings player and current conservative activist Jack Brewer told Fox News Digital he is "disgusted and embarrassed" about the new cheerleaders.
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"As a former Viking team captain who grew up a Viking fan-my dad's been a Viking fan since 1972-I've never been so disgusted and embarrassed to even have any association with the Minnesota Vikings brand. I think I speak for a lot of other former players and Viking fans when I say that this does not represent this great franchise," Brewer said.
"Now we're being represented with men with pom-poms on the sideline. It's sickening. No man needs to ever have a pom-pom in their hand."
Brewer added that he believes the inclusion of men on the cheerleading squad is an attempt to "manipulate children."
"This is purely an attempt to manipulate young children, to overtake the minds of young children with this spiritual evilness," Brewer said. "The influence on kids is manipulating the mind of the children. They are teaching young boys that it's okay to have pom-poms and cheer and act like women."
Brewer believes that this will particularly impact "minority" boys.
"This is directly preying on the vulnerable… particularly of minority families, the vast majority of them live with their mamas. They don't live with their dad, the majority live with their mamas. So you take these kids that are already living with their mama, ain't got no masculinity around them, and then you war in their mind in what has been known to the world as the most masculine sport, the most masculine team sport in the world, and you're starting to feminize that in front of these children," Brewer said.
The Vikings are not the first team to employ male cheerleaders. The Los Angeles Rams were the first organization to have male cheerleaders in 2018. The Baltimore Ravens also featured several men on their cheerleading squad.
Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers had the first transgender cheerleader on its squad until this year.
However, the Vikings' situation has become a conversation of national debate amid Sheik and Conn's recent social media posts. The team has stood by the two men, affirming the team is "proud" to have them on the sidelines for this upcoming season.
"Male cheerleaders have been part of previous Vikings teams and have long been associated with collegiate and professional cheerleading," the Vikings told NBC News. "We support all our cheerleaders and are proud of the role they play as ambassadors of the organization."
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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., weighed in on the controversy during an interview on OutKick's "Hot Mic" on Tuesday.
"I would like to ask the ownership of the NFL and the commissioner, what the hell are you doing?" he said. "You've got the No. 1 sport on planet Earth in terms of people watching it. Your business is growing, it's getting better and better. There's some ways you've tried to attack it over the last 10-15 years but you've been able to withstand that.
"But if you're going to be woke and you're gonna try to take the men out of men's sports, which is what you're doing. They're trying to take gender and say, 'OK, we're going to make it more about gender than we are about masculinity.' Then, you're going to have a huge problem. It's coming."
Tuberville warned that fans may stop buying tickets to games if male cheerleaders become more prevalent.
"People will actually quit buying tickets because this is the narrative they're trying to push. This is not just about a couple of people being men cheerleaders," Tuberville said. "It is about pushing a narrative that you want to put gender into sports and let everyone know we're trying to show, 'Hey, we're going to take the masculinity out of it a little bit.'"
Brewer praised Tuberville for his recent statements.
"Thank God for Tommy Tuberville, who came out with a strong statement standing up against that-one of the greatest college football coaches in the history of the game-because he knows he has a voice. He's trying to speak out, not just for his perspective, but for the perspective of the vast majority of coaches, players, and even fans. This is not supported by the fans. What do you think a fan comes to an NFL game to watch?" Brewer said.
"Do you think they come to watch men with pom-poms, or do they come to watch hard-nosed football played at a high level with sportsmanship, great plays, great athletes, and actual skillful female cheerleaders on the sideline with some male cheerleaders who are there to pick them up and throw them, catch them, but not to wave pom-poms?"
It is Sheik's first year as a Vikings cheerleader. He shared a post back in May, celebrating his rookie season. Conn was a part of the Iowa State Cyclones dance team before he joined the Vikings this season.
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