DCC’S Danielle: Compares Cheering For The NY Jets & Dallas Cowboys

By Kristi Scales
5PointsBlue.com

Q: What is Saturday night going to be like for you? Are there mixed emotions since you’ve been cheered for both the Jets and the Cowboys?

DANIELLE: I’m so excited about this particular game because it’s cool that it’s come full circle for me. When I started with the Jets’ Flight Crew I was a baby, just 18 years old, and had no idea what it would lead me to, which is the DCC. So I’m obviously a fan of both teams.

My dad, who grew up a die-hard Jets fan, did not miss a game of all three years I was there. He’s coming to AT&T Stadium for this game, so I’m excited. We loved the Cowboys, too, because there was no rivalry with the Jets. They’re in different conferences, so we could root for both teams. But my dad’s excited to see the Jets in our amazing stadium and to see me cheer on these sidelines.

Q: How does your experience with the Jets differ from the one you’ve had with the DCC?

DANIELLE: The year I started in 2008 was the first open audition for the Jets. They had 10 girls on the field the previous season to see how the fans would respond. It was positive, so they held open auditions the next year for a small group and the squad was born. They called us Flight Crew Members because they didn’t want to call us cheerleaders.

My second season with the team was their first calendar and we did them on the beaches in Long Island and New Jersey, so that was interesting. But it was so successful that the next year we flew internationally to Aruba, and now they’re going to Turks & Caicos.

So it was interesting to be at the genesis of one team, then to come here to Dallas where the DCC was already an empire and I was the one who was coming in brand new. It was difficult because the DCC because has so much material. And the jump split is something I hadn’t done since high school. The Jets had a kick line but it wasn’t nearly as immaculate as it is here. So I had a lot of work to do because it’s a step up as far as the challenge of performing the volume of routines.”

Q: What made a nice girl from Long Island want to leave home for the Cowboys?

DANIELLE: My first year in Dallas was 2012 and I came with Jasmine. We were both with the Jets and we watched the show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team regularly. We would talk about it at practice, saying it would be so cool to do that.

Also, our director with the Jets, Denise Garvey, was a DCC in 2000 and I remember her telling us about her DCC pinkie ring and what it meant to her. She came from Long Island to Dallas by herself and didn’t know anyone. She inspired me stories of how she had to be strong. Now I have my own ring and it means so much to me. If not for those years with the Jets, I would not have had the confidence to try for the DCC. It’s really wild how it’s come full circle for me.”

Q: What are the differences cheering on game day for Cowboys fans compared to Jets fans?

DANIELLE: The stadiums are completely different. I went back to an alumni game and the stadium in New Jersey feels so much smaller than AT&T Stadium. Also, the Jets have a chant J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets which is crazy when 80,000 people scream it. But our stadium here is the loudest I’ve ever heard. I can’t communicate with the girl standing next to me because it’s so loud.

It’s not that the fans are that different, because both sets are very passionate. But the atmosphere, the setting, is different. And it’s different putting on a world-renowned uniform. You can show a picture of a DCC uniform anywhere in the world and they’ll know what it is whereas other teams are not as recognizable. Of course, every uniform you put on, you earn it and there’s pride. But you can’t really compare anything else to the DCC.