Jessi’s line of the Titans Cheerleaders starts the countdown to Halloween

Line Captain Jessi is back for her sixth TTC season
Line Captain Jessi is back for her sixth season

Last Sunday was a favorite for a lot of Tennessee Titans fans, the Halloween game for the Titans Cheerleaders! So we will countdown to Halloween with an extra special ‘treat’; each of the four lines featured as we countdown to October 31st!

Today we will feature the TTC line that is captained by dance/entertainment legend Jessi!

Hannah takes over the role of Catwoman
Hannah takes over the role of Catwoman
Angelic Jocelyn
Angelic Jocelyn
Where's Kellee? To the right of Bri!
Where’s Kellee? To the right of Bri!

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Former Chiefs Cheerleader Has a Spirited Team to Help Her Fight Breast Cancer

By Jeneé Osterheldt
Kansas City Star

It was halftime, and pink and white balloons floated above Arrowhead Stadium, filling the sky with hope.

Regardless of who we were rooting for at this Chiefs game a couple of Sundays ago, we were all clapping for the same cause: breast cancer survivors. The cheerleaders, in their special pink gear, did a routine honoring them. Brandy Reed knows every dip, pop and step of this October tradition. But this year, she did not perform.

The former Chiefs cheerleader was on the field as a survivor. It had only been a month since her last chemotherapy treatment.

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“I cried,” she says later, sitting on the floor with her year-old son in their Northland home. “I know the moves. I’ve performed them in honor of my grandmother, my aunt, my mother. But this year it was an awakening to be on the other side.”

This time of year, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we point to the statistics: More then 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But despite her family history, Brandy didn’t think she’d be here. Not at 31.

“My mom has been cancer-free for nine years,” Brandy says. “I was in college when she was diagnosed. I was nervous and scared and young. I was focused on her being healthy because my dad passed from lung cancer when I was 15. I didn’t want to lose another parent. I know it sounds naive, but I didn’t think about how it would affect my health. If anything, I thought maybe it’s a chance when I’m older. But not now, not as a healthy and vibrant new mom. I thought I was invincible.”

Through it all, not only have her husband, her mother and other relatives stood by her side, but her cheer sisters as well. They are pros at rooting for their team. And they defy every catty, dumb-girl image.

“I love what the girls stand for,” Brandy says. “Intelligence, hard work, balance, fitness, education. We are not a stereotype. We have careers off the field. And we have camaraderie. Those women molded me into the woman I am today.”

Brandy Reed, on her cheer sisters

Outside of my actual family, the girls were my rocks. They came to sit with me at chemo, they sent texts, they cried with with me.

Brandy joined the team in 2010 and cheered for three seasons.

“I cheered in high school. I danced in college. When I moved here after I graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, I didn’t have any friends or family. I’m from St. Louis. But I loved dancing so I went out to join the Chiefs cheerleaders. I auditioned twice before I finally made it. On my third try, I made the team and lifelong friends.”

A couple of seasons ago, she took some time off the field to focus on her wedding. And when she was ready to go back in uniform, she found out she was pregnant. Her new strategy: After the birth of her baby boy she would gear up for a comeback.

Her goal to once again rock Arrowhead was halted in January.

When their son Jaxson was 4 months old, she returned to her job as a life scientist for the Environmental Protection Agency. While pumping milk in the lactation room of her Lenexa office, she noticed something. A lump.

She thought it was nothing — maybe something related to breast feeding. But she went to see her doctor anyway. Because of her family history, she was sent to a specialist. A biopsy found the cyst to be benign. But there was something on her right breast. An ultrasound confirmed she was stage zero DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). Abnormal cells in the lining of the milk duct. Non-invasive cancer.

“In that situation, it was the best possible news,” Brandy says. “I thought they were going to tell me I was dying.”

The answer, in her case: a bilateral mastectomy. She would have her breasts removed in March. Her cheer sisters wore pink on surgery day and posted pictures to support her.

“I wasn’t scared,” she says. “The hardest part was knowing I couldn’t lift my son for eight weeks. But we defined the problem, we found a solution and I was ready to get to the finish line if it meant helping increase the chances of seeing my son graduate from college one day.”

It wasn’t that simple. Post-surgery, results showed a small tumor just outside of her milk ducts. The cancer had metastasized. She was now stage one. The new move: chemotherapy.

“I was more scared of chemo than I was of the surgery,” she says. “But I made a promise to my husband. I told him I would never give up, and I needed to honor my husband. And I had a wonderful childhood and have an awesome relationship with my mother. I knew I needed to be here for my son.”

In April, she began weekly chemo treatments. To help protect her chances of future pregnancy, she was given medication that temporarily sent her into menopause. The process was grueling.

Her husband, Jarron Reed, says it was a lesson in faith and perseverance.

“She kept it strong and balanced, and it inspired me,” he says. “I know she is going to continue to fight, and God has everything under control. It wasn’t a challenge. It made me a better husband. I knew I was going to do whatever I could do to be there for my family.”

Her football family rallied behind her, too.

“Outside of my actual family, the girls were my rocks,” she says. “They came to sit with me at chemo, they sent texts, they cried with with me. Every week on treatment day I heard from them. And they made sure my birthday was special when I didn’t want to celebrate.”

But she reminded herself to enjoy every moment.

“I took so many pictures and went out and saw friends and spent time with my husband,” she says. “I wanted to make as many memories as possible and have pictures with Jaxson. No one is promised tomorrow. I don’t want to live with those regrets.”

And at the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in September, days after her final chemo treatment and just as she was celebrating her son’s first birthday, the cheerleaders were there in full support. Brandy, her husband and their baby walked the 5K. Friends, family and cheerleaders roared with support as she crossed the finish line at Worlds of Fun. I handed her a rose.

But it’s not always pink balloons and smiling in the face of adversity. Yes, she’s cancer-free and thankful. But it’s been a hard year. She went through menopause. Even now, she has hot flashes. So much so that when she turns on the fan, her 1-year-old asks, “Hot?”

For the next 10 years, she will be on Tamoxifen to help prevent the recurrence of breast cancer. Anxiety comes with every headache, pain and pinch. It’s impossible to watch TV without seeing a cancer treatment commercial. She sometimes wonders, “Is it back?”

But she doesn’t let it keep her down for long. A lesson she learned as a Chiefs cheerleader always helps her stand up again.

“We learned that there are two things you can do in life,” Brandy says. “You can turn negatives into a positive or you can go up in flames. My director used to ask us, ‘If there is a picture of a sunset and there is trash in the background, are you going to look at the beautiful sun or the trash? You look at the sun.’

“I’ve been on a mental battle. I fight it every day. It’s not easy to stay positive, to not think about the worst possible scenario. But it’s not about my plan. It’s God’s plan. And you work hard to stay positive. When you know better, you do better.”

Stephanie Judah, the Chiefs’ cheerleaders director, is the woman who taught Brandy that mantra she holds so dearly.

“Brandy has always been known for her vivacious personality and her giant smile,” Stephanie says. “Everything she did on her team, it was with her huge heart shining through, and her impact touched people everywhere she went. Watching her go through her battle, what had to be the hardest thing she ever went through, with grace and spirit and her huge smile — it’s amazing.

“Even though she’s told me she didn’t feel like herself, to us she never lost the spirit of who she is. And I think that is a big part of being a survivor, never giving up that battle with all of your heart and soul. She is a special one.”

Next spring Brandy will participate in Bra Couture KC (formerly known as Art Bra KC) as the Chiefs representative to raise breast cancer awareness.

“She was a great model on the field, and as an alum and survivor, she is still a great role model,” Stephanie says. “She has brought a whole new meaning to who we strive to be. It’s been an eye-opener for my current cheerleaders. Breast cancer hits at all ages, not just older people and not even just women.”

For Brandy, it’s about encouraging people to be vigilant about their health.

“I’m still the old Brandy. But I am forever changed. And it’s important to share my story. It’s important to raise awareness for people who are like me, who might think they are invincible. It’s important to teach young girls to do self-checks, to get follow-up exams when they think something is wrong. It’s therapeutic to talk about it. It allows me to face it.”

For inspiration, she looks to Robin Roberts, the “Good Morning America” co-anchor who beat breast cancer.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it,” Brandy says. “But Robin Roberts says that day will come. I look forward to it.”

Pom-poms in the air for Brandy.

Tennessee Titans Cheerleader Alumni return to the field for NFL Homecoming festivities

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Once a Titans Cheerleader, always a Titans Cheerleader. The value of this talented alumni group is in evidence before every home game, as the Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders Alumni greet fans as they enter Nashville’s Nissan Stadium. And during the Titans’ Homecoming game last weekend, some of the Cheerleader Alumni were honored on the field. NFL Homecoming celebrates the many ways in which football brings us home, including the return of NFL Legends to home stadiums across the country. So in addition to fans applauding legends like Eddie George’s returning to the field, the alumni of the legendary TCC were also honored. Stacie Kinder, Director of Cheerleading for the Titans, handed roses to alumni who spanned the entire history of the Titans Cheerleaders in Nashville. And the hugs exchanged among the current and alumni Cheerleaders demonstrated a sisterhood that lasts beyond their time on the field.

Congratulations to the honored TTC legends! More photos are available at this link.

Thanks to Stacie Kinder and the Titans organization for all of their wonderful assistance!

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Seven Decades of Argos Cheerleaders Perform for Women’s Cancer Game

On October 23, 2015, members of the CFL Toronto Argonauts Alumni Cheerleaders squads from 1945 to 2014, performed at the Argos’ annual PINK game in honour of women’s cancers.

The 100+ performers consisted of: the Argoettes (the original squads from 1945-1962), the Sunshine Girls (1970s to 1995) and the Double Blue Thunder (1996 to 2014).

The current Argos cheer team also performed as part of the half-time show, along with a special appearance by Canadian country music star Tim Hicks, who played two of his current hits.

With just a few rehearsals and one quick pre-game practice together, these dynamic ladies put on a rousing half-time show, all together, complete with video and photo footage of Argo cheerleaders from decades past.

Cancer has touched each of these Alumni Cheerleaders, either personally, or through family, friends or colleagues. Each October the Alumni Cheerleaders work together to present this show in honour of the cause. With the addition of the Argoettes into the show this year, the annual PINK game for Toronto keeps getting bigger and better!

This year’s PINK home game was moved to Tim Horton field in Hamilton, due to scheduling needs of the MLB Toronto Blue Jays, who share the Rogers Centre. The Rogers Centre is the Argos’ home, until the end of this season. The Toronto football club moves to BMO Field next season, for a new era of football memories to begin!

Toronto lost to the Montreal Alouettes at this year’s PINK game, but it was a win in the fight against cancer. The CFL Argos are North America’s longest-running professional football team. Next year, Toronto hosts the Grey Cup (Canada’s Super Bowl). Watch for the Toronto Argos Alumni Cheerleaders to be strongly involved in Grey Cup Festivities when Toronto hosts the Canadian Football League’s pinnacle event in November 2016!

– Contributed by Elizabeth Morgan, Alumni NFL Bills, CFL Argos and CFL Tiger Cats Cheerleader/Captain. Elizabeth is also a member of the International Dance Council and the Owner of Expressions Dance Arts Inc. In London, Canada.

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The CFL Argoettes (the original squads from 1945-1962)

 

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The four participating cheer groups dance with Canadian country star Tim Hicks at half-time, prior to their choreographed routine.

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Article contributor Elizabeth Morgan after on-field rehearsal, with the Alumni logo on the Jumbotron.

I Want to Learn Bollywood Dance: Wrestler Rebel

Once a professional cheerleader-cum-dancer, American TNA wrestling star Tanea Brooks says she’s smitten by Hindi film music

From Mid-day.com

Wrestling was never a career option for American Tanea Brooks until Total Nonstop Action (TNA) “just happened’ for the American cheerleader-cum-dancer in May last year.

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A former cheerleader with American National Football League team Dallas Cowboys for a decade and a half, Rebel, who hails from Owasso, Oklahoma, has been a professional dancer too following which she participated in full-contact football in Lingerie Bowl. However, the fact that some of her family members were wrestlers and she too cheered for a wrestling team in high school, probably drew her to the sport, she said.

“When I was in high school, I cheered for wrestling and football teams. It is then that I became more exposed to the world of professional wrestling and football. I was a cheerleader for 15 years before I got into TNA.

My cheerleading skills especially the jumps and stunts helped me a lot in wrestling,” said Rebel during a visit to the mid-day office yesterday alongwith fellow TNA wrestlers Ethan Carter III and Mahabali Shera. Sony Six and TNA yesterday launched a second search for India’s next big wrestling star to partner Shera on the TNA roster.

Professional wrestlers are prone to injuries and serious dislocations, but Rebel said she never feared losing her pretty features. “I’ve never been scared of injuries since I am a country girl. I take pride in it. It gives me the confidence to go out there and be a better player than my opponents,” added the 37-year-old, who appeared on the cover of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders’ swimsuit calendar at 18.

‘Diet, exercise is key’

Rebel credited a carefully watched diet and meticulously planned fitness regime for her success. “I follow a high protein, low carbohydrate diet. Every two to three hours I consume 25-30 grams of protein in various forms like shakes or chicken. There is no off-season in wrestling so taking care of our bodies is an integral part of our lives.

Since I have a dance background, I also include a lot of dance routines to stay fit. I’m very keen to learn Bollywood dance,” said Rebel, who is admittedly smitten by the Bollywood bug but more importantly, is a huge fan of actor Priyanka Chopra.

“I watched Tanu Weds Manu on the flight here and simply loved the lead actor Kangana (Ranaut). The film was so funny. I’ve also watched the American drama series Quantico (starring Priyanka) and I think Priyanka’s done a fab job,” said Rebel, who is now looking forward to some saree and jewellery shopping on her maiden visit to the country.

Cavalier Girl: Elbridge Woman Makes Cleveland NBA Team’s Dance Team

By David Wilcox
AuburnPub.com
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Emily Schwarting was sitting with her parents in their Elbridge home one Sunday morning this summer, waiting for a phone call.

Schwarting had graduated from Mercyhurst University in May. But when that phone call came, her father said, she was a teenage girl all over again.

“She just couldn’t sit still,” said her father, David. “All excited and shaking.”

The call came from the Cleveland Cavaliers, who told Schwarting that she had been selected to join the NBA team’s Cavalier Girls dance squad. Out of 130 women who took part in the weeklong audition, she was one of 20 who made the cut.

“I put my whole heart into wanting to be on this team,” Schwarting said in a Thursday phone interview. “It’s one of the best phone calls I’ve ever received.”

A lifetime of dance led Schwarting to the high-profile spot. She began her craft at the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts in Syracuse when she was 5, under the instruction of Deborah Boughton. Every day after school, Schwarting said, she’d be in the car by 5 p.m. for a few hours of instruction in pointe, ballet, tap and other styles. She saw herself following in the graceful footsteps of her cousin, Broadway performer Bradley Benjamin, of Skaneateles.

Going to school at Jordan-Elbridge, Schwarting would also cheerlead in middle school and play lacrosse. By the time she was in 10th grade, though, dance was all Emily had time for, David said.

“That was her love and her passion,” he said. “If she had a dance class Friday night, she wouldn’t go to the football game or the school dance.”

As Schwarting transitioned from Jordan-Elbridge to Mercyhurst in 2011, that passion withstood a pair of setbacks. The first was her Syracuse dance school’s closure in the spring of her senior year. Instead of staging their grand finale in an auditorium, Schwarting and her fellow dancers gave a hastily scheduled one at the school, David said.

The second setback came at Mercyhurst, where Schwarting landed badly after a jump, spraining her ACL and MCL and tearing her medial meniscus. She wasn’t sure she’d ever dance again, she said.

“I looked at the people around me and saw how many of them have fought through injury,” she said. “So I trained hard to get back to where I was, and it made me a better, stronger, smarter dancer.”

After Schwarting came back, she made a contact through the Mercyhurst dance program that’d set her Cavalier Girls gig in motion: Holly Anderson, coach of the dance team for NBA Development League team the Erie BayHawks. Until 2011, the team was affiliated with the Cavaliers.

Schwarting danced with the team from 2013 to 2015, adding commercial styles like hip-hop and jazz to her repertoire of concert styles. When Schwarting graduated from Mercyhurst, Anderson made her former dancer aware of the opportunity with the 2015 NBA Finalists.

“She was the one who pushed me to go further in that style,” Schwarting said. “And I had kept going west. So I thought, why not try Cleveland, Ohio?”

So far, since making the squad, Schwarting has performed with the Cavaliers for a few preseason games ahead of their Oct. 29 home opener. (The Cavalier Girls don’t travel with the team.)

Ever committed to getting better, Schwarting splits her time between the Cavalier Girls and the Dancing Wheels Company & School, which teaches the art to people with disabilities. She balances that continued practice of concert dance with prioritizing entertainment on the Quicken Loans Arena court.

“The big thing is having a smile on your face,” she said.

Schwarting hasn’t had the opportunity to meet Cavaliers star and the team’s all-time leading scorer, LeBron James, as the NBA has a no-fraternization policy, she said. However, she’s already received a warm welcome from the team’s fans at preseason games and other public appearances, she said.

“It makes you feel like you’re a mini-superstar,” she said.

“I had a father at a game the other day and he came up to me and said, ‘I’m only here because my daughter wants to watch you perform. Thanks for giving her that inspiration,'” she continued. “It takes you a step back to realize that it’s not just about basketball.”

Former Chiefs Cheerleader Overcomes Breast Cancer for Son

Brandy Reed began wearing pink as a supporter, but now she wears it as a survivor

By Nicole Feyh
KCChiefs.com

If it was ever a choice before, Brandy Reed never saw it as one.

“I had to fight because my baby deserves a mommy.”

After all, breastfeeding her son, Jaxson, was the reason she discovered the lump in the first place. He’s also the reason she never takes a moment with him for granted.

Brandy underwent a bilateral mastectomy on March 5 after being diagnosed with breast cancer in February, when her son was only four months old.

The procedure was grueling, especially for a new wife and mother who imagined her life heading in any other direction than this.

And for the next eight weeks, Brandy couldn’t so much as lift her arms, let alone hold her own child.

“I didn’t like the fact that I couldn’t take care of my son,” Brandy said, “but I literally couldn’t. I had treatments on Thursdays and by Saturday, all I could do was sleep and eat.”

Through the help of her and her husband’s family, Brandy began the road to recovery, starting with a surgery that left her bedridden. She would undergo 16 treatments total in two rounds of chemotherapy over the next four months.

“My first four treatments were pretty tough,” Brandy recalled. “They kind of knocked me on my butt. I’m a very energetic person, so for me to be down in the dumps was difficult.”

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Inspired by the life she created, Brandy began the road to recovery.

Her treatments ended in early September, one week before Jaxson turned 1.

“There are so many times in the day where I stop and think that six months ago I didn’t think I’d be here,” she said. “Time is just invaluable to me. I want to make an effort to connect with my friends, make those memories with my family.

“Tomorrow is not promised to anyone. I know it’s so cliché to say, but when you’ve literally had your life flash before your eyes, you take things one day at a time and you appreciate people and situations in your life so much more.”

But before she was a survivor, Brandy’s life had already been deeply affected by cancer.

Brandy grew up in St. Louis and began dancing around the age of 4 with tap and ballet. Dance became her first love, especially through the passing of her father to lung cancer when she was 15.

Six years later, when she was in college, her mother would be diagnosed with breast cancer, adding to the list of women in her family with the disease.

“When my mom was diagnosed, the fear of having [breast cancer] kind of flashed in my mind and my thoughts,” she remembers. “But I was so focused on her getting healthy and me not losing another parent to this disease that I didn’t linger on it for long. I thought about it but I just couldn’t focus on me.”

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