Total Pro Sports
Minnesota Vikings cheerleader Blaize Shiek is blazing a trail.
Shiek is part of the Minnesota Vikings’ cheerleader roster for 2025-26, and 12 football teams, including the Vikings, have male cheerleaders this year.
At one point, this was not a common practice.
He’s not the only male cheerleader on the roster, as Louis Conn has joined him as well.
His choice to be on the team is one thing, but the Vikings’ actual signing of him left many fans unamused. Notably, there was a time when only women were allowed on the cheerleading team, but that is now a dated idea.
Outsports reported that a third of the NFL now boasts of male cheerleaders, with the Los Angeles Rams having at least seven men on the squad. Nobody is doing any better than the Baltimore Ravens, who have at least 19 male members.
Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn know they will receive a lot of hate, and one of them is speaking out.
“See you at 3!” Shiek wrote, as he made reference to the Minnesota Vikings preseason game.
Dancers Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn made their debut Saturday in the Vikings’ preseason home opener.
The Vikings recently confirmed both men would join their cheerleading roster for the 2025 season. The decision was presented as a step toward gender equality and representation within the organization.
Everybody was not on board with the decision.
Former NFL wideout Antonio Brown was one of them.
He took to his X account and dropped a gay slur towards Blaize Shiek.
The best thing Shiek could do is ignore Brown or the insults will only get worse.
