A Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Is Suing The Organization And, Hear Me Out, It's Something We Should Get Behind

Every time I see headline about an NFL cheerleader complaining about their pay, I never click on the article. To be honest, I think to myself “if you have a problem with what they pay you, don’t sign up to do it. You don’t HAVE to be an NFL cheerleader.”

A lot of us have been in positions in our lives where we have to take a job to just be able to literally feed yourself. It may not be glamorous, but you do what you have to do. If you haven’t been there, you’re lucky. If you have, you probably didn’t think “I should probably go be an NFL cheerleader. That’ll pay the bills.”

But hand up, after reading the latest article from the New York Post, I kinda of feel like an asshole for thinking that.

Everybody is chasing a dream. Being an NFL cheerleader is a dream for a lot of little girls. I can’t do a cartwheel to save my life, so I have never cared to even think about it. But I did take jobs in media that paid me basically nothing so that I could continue to chase my own dream, while having side jobs to pay the bills.

Today, I decided to have an open mind and read about why former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Erica Wilkins is suing the Dallas Cowboys for unfair pay and lost wages. She had a dream, reached it and is now unhappy with how it played out.

A little backstory: In 2014-2015, she was on the “show group” which made her one of the highest ranking cheerleaders on the squad. She got to be on a CMT reality TV show. She performed on stage with Blake Shelton and Usher. She graced the front cover of the Swimsuit issue in 2016. All really cool things, if you ask me.

Her salary for the that year though? $4,700.

That’s insane.

Even crazier? Rowdy the mascot’s salary is reportedly $65,000 + commission.

Side note: Does anyone actually give a shit about the mascot at games? The only time I care about mascots are when they are real life dogs because I’m a child. I couldn’t care less about a dude dressed in a creepy uniform running around. What a waste of money.

Erica says that the squad is paid $8/hour for practice and a flat rate of $200 on game days that could be over 12 hours long. With all the practices and appearances and maintenance time, she had to quit her day job. She says the organization didn’t pay her overtime. (There are a lot of details in the NYP article that I am not going to list out because it’s kind of exhausting.)

“Cheerleading is not just a September-to-February job. During the NFL off-season, when there were fewer practices and appearances, “I got a paycheck [for an appearance] one time, not kidding, that was $12 and some odd cents. And I said, ‘Great, this will maybe buy me some Chipotle.’?”

In summary though, Erica is trying to change the culture for NFL cheerleaders and get what she believed she is owed. You can’t hate the hustle.

I’m learning to be reformed in my thought process today even though I still feel a little bit like “you signed up for this”. It’s bananas that they aren’t even making $5K a year for the massive amount of work they put in. And let’s be honest, these women can’t just be eating off the dollar menu. They have an appearance to uphold.

The NFL needs to remedy this. I’m not saying they should make a ton of money, but for god’s sake, Jerry World cost $1.2 Billion with a B. I think they can spare more than a $12 check.

It’s not only happening in Dallas either. There are squads all over the league that are pissed. What happens next? A boycott? Personally, I would HATE to see the NFL not have cheerleaders. How much would that stink? As a woman, I can fully appreciate hot, talented women on the sidelines. It’s a staple that I just don’t want to see go away.

PS – I may be biased, but the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are the best in the game. I mean, no other squad has multiple movies made about them.

Facts only.