Theresa Pottratz and the Colts Cheerleaders Busily Entertain as Superb Super Bowl Hosts

For all the talk of whether or not there would be cheerleaders at the recent Super Bowl in Indianapolis, for anyone who visited the city’s Super Bowl Village or watched “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” there was no doubt. No matter which teams had made the final two, there were definitely cheerleaders playing a big role in the Super Bowl festivities. Between extended autograph sessions at the convention center’s NFL Experience, singing and dancing at the three stages within Super Bowl Village, appearing on two of Jimmy Fallon’s shows at Indy’s Hilbert Circle Theatre, or countless other appearances, such as dancing in the sand at the Celebrity Beach Bowl football game, the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders made sure that there was no question that pro cheerleaders are an essential part of NFL entertainment.

Colts Cheerleaders Coordinator Theresa Pottratz and her talented squad worked tirelessly prior to and during Super Bowl week to entertain the million plus visitors who enjoyed Super Bowl Village and the myriad of nearby events. A couple days after the Super Bowl, Theresa took a way beyond-well deserved vacation to Costa Rica, and upon her return to Indy, graciously answered our questions about a memorable week for her, the Colts Cheerleaders, and all of Indianapolis.

UC.com – Theresa, did you get advice from other cheer squad directors regarding what Super Bowl week is like for the host city cheerleaders? Do you think the Colts Cheerleaders were more visible and in demand than usual because of the unique nature of downtown Indy’s popular Super Bowl Village?

Theresa – I did actually talk to other cheer directors about the Super Bowl in their cities and so I had a little bit of an idea of what to expect, but what made our city so unique was the Super Bowl Village. We performed multiple times every day for ten days in the Super Bowl Village, which required a lot of rehearsal time before hand. I don’t believe all the other cities had anything quite like our fabulous Super Bowl Village.

UC.com – Compare and contrast, running a cheer squad that is on the sidelines for the Super Bowl, versus being host city’s cheerleaders? Is one more or less crazy?

Theresa – I would say being the host city is a lot crazier! When we were in the Super Bowl, I had to worry about certain things like transportation and per diems for food, but most things were taken care of. Most of the appearances are on the Friday and Saturday before the game. Being the host city, I worked 127 hours in ten days. All 41 of my girls were booked most days from January 27th through February 5th, and because we had so many different performances with a variety of routines, we had a lot of practicing to do. We don’t just do normal sideline routines. We had a wide variety of dance numbers including lyrical and tap and five fabulous singers! We like to be a little different! I don’t know how we would have made it if we had been both the host team and in the Super Bowl, but I would have liked to try!

UC.com – When did Jimmy Fallon’s show contact you, and what are some fun memories?

Theresa – I think the first contact was in December because they originally wanted to tape a segment on January 8th, but that fell through. Then on January 19th, I received another phone call saying they wanted girls for two different shows. I had to do some rearranging of the schedule to get all the girls they wanted, but we made it work. The staff and crew of the Jimmy Fallon show are wonderful. We had so much fun working with them. The girls even rhinestoned a pair of underpants for Captain Underpants, aka Seth Herzog, and Jimmy had to apologize to me for accidentally hitting one of my cheerleaders!

UC.com – For the Jimmy Fallon show, was it difficult to select which Cheerleaders would be part of it (see clips here)? Also, was the choreography during the final show provided by squad or the show?

Theresa – Since we didn’t get the call until a week before our Super Bowl events started, it wasn’t that hard, because it was more of who was available at the times they needed us to be there. I did try to spread out what I called the “premier” events so that as many girls as possible got to be involved with those extra special appearances. The choreography was provided by their wonderful choreographer Danielle Flora.

UC.com – What were some of the logistical challenges during Super Bowl week, dealing with traffic, having uniforms ready every day, et cetera?

Theresa – The logistics were a nightmare! My interns and I spent hours and hours trying to make sure everyone was where they were supposed to be with the right uniform and the proper credentials. Because our normal transportation company was charging so much during Super Bowl week, we decided to use Colts vehicles with interns chauffeuring. We were fortunate to have some parking spaces available through the NFL and the Super Bowl committee, so it worked fairly well. Our biggest issue on game day was that our security company did not get properly credentialed to be in the perimeter, so we were a little short handed that day.

UC.com – What are your feelings about how Indianapolis served as Super Bowl hosts?

Theresa – I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of Indianapolis and the Super Bowl Committee. I think they did an amazing job. Everyone was so easy to work with it. I talked to so many people from the NFL and the media who kept telling me this was the best Super Bowl they have ever been to. I was really impressed with the Village and how many people were always there.

UC.com – What were some of the comments that you heard from the Cheerleaders about their experiences? It was a mild weather week, but for a squad that performs under a roof a lot of the time, how was performing in a variety of weather conditions, performing on sand at Victory Field’s Beach Bowl, and singing in front of throngs on Georgia Street?

Theresa – The words I kept hearing from the girls were, “This is the most amazing experience of my life.” The weather was a little bad the first weekend because the wind was so strong and it was hard to do some of the dance moves, but not only did the Colts Cheerleaders do a great job but our Junior Cheerleaders were out there as well. The sand for the Beach Bowl was a little rough but they made it through. It really helped to have girls who have traveled with tour shows before, because they are used to being flexible because you never know what conditions you might be performing in. I was very proud of how my girls handled themselves.

UC.com – This year’s squad had to endure an unusual, for the Colts lately, 2-14 season. How did you feel about this particular squad being able to be part of the excitement Super Bowl week?

Theresa – It really was a different season for us so it was nice to have the Super Bowl here, but even without that, we had a great year. We are very blessed to have a lot of unique opportunities for the girls to participate in.

UC.com – During the seasons when the Colts made the Super Bowl, what is it like to be on the field for a Super Bowl? Where were you during this past Super Bowl?

Theresa – There is nothing like being on the field during the opening moments of the Super Bowl. Everyone in the entire stadium is so excited! Once the game gets going though, it’s not that much different than a regular game, until the end of course. For Super Bowl XLVI, we were in the stadium for “NFL on Location” in the Exhibit Halls all afternoon, but we had to leave shortly after kick-off to get to our next appearance. It was a little sad when we had to leave the stadium after the game started though. We wanted to be on the sidelines. Fortunately, my next appearance was going to the Hilbert Theater to watch the game with some of the Jimmy Fallon staff!

UC.com – Was part of your responsibilities to serve as “host” to the Patriots squad during their time in Indy or to the Saintsations during their NFL Experience appearance?

Theresa – As soon as I heard the Patriots were coming, I sent an email to their director, Tracy Sormanti. She’s a great lady and I would have loved to spend some time with her and her girls. We tried to arrange for the girls to get together but unfortunately, our schedules just didn’t work out. They came to town on Thursday that week and our schedules were completely booked from that point on.

We did get together with the Saintsations though. Lesslee Fitzmorris and I had gotten the girls together back when we were both in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV. The girls had a great time. This year some of the girls went out together on Friday, January 27th, and then we worked together for the cheer clinic on January 29th. Of course Lesslee and I were able to squeeze in a lunch and a breakfast during those few days she was here.

UC.com – What advice would you give a cheer director of an NFL squad that hosts a Super Bowl? Who do you want to give a shout out to anyone who made things run smoothly during the week?

Theresa – My advice would be to go with the flow! No matter how carefully you plan, something will change last minute. The other thing that I would recommend is to have a large squad. We went from 32 girls to 42 girls for the 2011 squad because of Super Bowl. I would never have been able to fill all our appearances if I didn’t have extra girls. I would love for us to host the Super Bowl again. I feel like I would know what to expect and could plan accordingly, but overall, I was happy with the way everything went.

I want to give a shout out to my interns, Alicia and Heather, for all their hard work, to marketing interns Kelsey and Ashley for helping with the driving, to my son Christopher who worked with us the whole week, and a special shout out to my Junior Cheer helpers, because without them, the Junior Cheerleaders would not have had the opportunity to perform three different times.

———————————

For those spending time in Indy’s Super Bowl Village, visitors saw a glimpse of the totality of the Colts Cheerleaders’ Herculean efforts and their ability to be present whenever and wherever needed, just like real-life super heroes, during Super Bowl week. We thank Theresa for her indefatigable efforts during Super Bowl week and for taking time out to participate in this interview. In the days after the Super Bowl, the skies darkened, cold winds visited, and the downtown’s Super Bowl ornamentation removed, but the city retains wonderful memories of a special week, during which Theresa and the Colts Cheerleaders rocked, and did the city and pro cheerleading proud.