Decades of Bills cheerleaders
Buffalo News

This season marks the first since 1967 that the Buffalo Jills won’t entertain Bills fans during games. From The News’ archives, here are a sampling of photos from more than 50 years of Bills cheerleaders.

Play the slideshow

The Pats website has been updated with new profile photos. Click here to go there now.

(Somewhat belated) Click here to learn more about the ladies chosen for the team!

The Tennessee Titans Cheerleaders had their annual calendar release party last weekend at the Rosewall in downtown Nashville. The party included a cocktail attire and swimwear fashion show, as well as a food drive to benefit Feed America First. Click here for tons of photos from the event!

Click here to check out the latest gallery from Sports illustrated!

Click here for week 1 photos on NFL.com!

Click here for photos from The Press Democrat.

By Jay Betsill
Special to DFW.com
September 4, 2014

It took a while. At the tail end of a cooler-than-usual summer, August made up for lost time: The sweltering heat and humidity that we have all come to expect finally arrived and put some sizzle in our summer. Since DFW has a well-deserved reputation for being so hot, this is when we celebrate all things that go along with summertime here, including some of the hottest people in the area at some of the coolest locations the Metroplex has to offer.

This year’s bevy of “it” women and men is a nod to the sports-obsessed nature of North Texas: You’ll meet a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, an NBA dancer, an Ice Angel, a former Indianapolis Colts cheerleader and a former Dallas Stars Ice Girl. We even have a beautiful woman who once played football herself and now owns her own business that specializes in helping DFW residents join “Team Sexy.”

[Click here to read the article in its entirety]

Vivian Ralena
Born: Riverside, Calif.
Current city: Denton
Day job: Dance instructor, second-year veteran of the Allen Americans Ice Angels and full-time student at UNT
Dream job: An inspirational speaker for adolescent teenagers who are going through hard times and need guidance
People may recognize you from: I actually get recognized a lot in public from the CMT show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, which I have been on the past two years.
Interesting fact about you: I love to write, especially poetry.

[Click here for the rest of Vivian’s profile and more photos]

Tessa David
Born: Bloomington, Ind.
Current city: Dallas
Day job: Executive administrative assistant for Blume Architecture and BSN Sports
Dream job: Own my own wellness center. I’ve always wanted to start my own dance studio that is geared more towards workout-type dance for the moms while their children take dance classes. Now I would like it to be even more than that and I want it to have a cryotherapy machine, nutritionist and many other things that would help a person develop a very balanced, healthy life.
People may recognize you from: I had the privilege of being an NFL cheerleader for the Indianapolis Colts for five years, which provided so many memorable and amazing opportunities, including getting to perform at Super Bowl 44! After moving to the Dallas area, I spent one season with the Allen Americans Ice Angels.

[Click here for the rest of Tessa’s profile and more photos]

Sequel Molina
Born: Fort Worth
Current city: Dallas
Day job: Administrative assistant at HEB Dental Excellence
Dream job: Working with orphaned chimpanzees. I recently saw a documentary on the Discovery Channel and I think they are the cutest things ever.
People may recognize you from: I am heading into my fifth season as an NBA dancer (for the Dallas Mavericks Dancers). My family had season tickets to the NBA when I was growing up and after being a cheerleader in high school, I knew this was my next step. The coolest aspect of being an NBA dancer is being on the court in front of a sold-out arena. It is definitely a major adrenaline rush.
Interesting fact about you: Sequel really is my name, not a nickname … I promise! (Editor’s note: Her parents named her Sequel because she was their second child.)

[Click here for the rest of Sequel’s profile and more photos]

Chelsea Chaney
Born: Merkel
Current city: Dallas
Day job: Bridal stylist
Dream job: Host my own national TV talk show about the lifestyle world similar to my blog, ChelseaChaney.com. My first guests on the show would be Ellen DeGeneres, Taylor Swift and Chris Pratt.
People may recognize you from: The 2012-13 NFL season, when I was a member of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
How would you describe your season as one of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders? I had a fantastic time on the squad, made a lot of great friends. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience and for me it was an opportunity to live out my dream of a small-town girl in the big city.
Interesting fact about you: I am borderline diabetic so I can’t eat sugar. Growing up, there was never any candy or Coke in the house.

[Click here for the rest of Chelsea’s profile and more photos]

Mercedes Owens
Born: Tulsa, Okla.
Current city: Dallas
Day job: Sports reporter for D210TV on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel. I cover the Dallas Cowboys, SMU football and SMU basketball.
Do you have any special experiences from your time as a sports reporter that stand out? As an SMU alum, having the chance to work in the same environment as a legend like head basketball coach Larry Brown last season is something I will never forget. I also did some fan-reaction interviews during the Mavs playoffs against the Spurs, and I filled in for the D210 entertainment reporter last summer, and I interviewed Marlon Wayans for A Haunted House 2. This summer I began covering the Cowboys on draft night and have continued through camp and will do the home games this season at AT&T Stadium.
Dream job: I want to host a national sports show and be the “Chelsea Handler of sports.”
Who would your first guests be on your show? I’d have a panel of four with LeBron James, Doc Rivers, Dez Bryant and Kevin Hart.
People may recognize you from: I was a Dallas Stars Ice Girl for the past two seasons.
Best feature: My sense of humor. I love to laugh and make people laugh. I am definitely a jokester.

[Click here for the rest of Mercedes’s profile and more photos]

Phil W. Hudson, Staff Writer
Atlanta Business Chronicle
September 2, 2014

Second-year Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader and Lithonia, Ga., native Jasmine Cooper will be the principal dancer in the upcoming VH1 television movie “Drumline: A New Beat.”

The follow-up to the 2002 movie “Drumline,” which starred Nick Cannon, tells the story of a rebellious upper-class girl from Brooklyn who defies the odds by becoming Atlanta A&T’s drumline’s first female section leader while revitalizing the marching band.

During her childhood, Cooper trained in ballet, jazz, tap, modern and funk at Decatur, Ga.-based Conservatory of Dance and Fine Arts.

According to the Falcons, Cooper went to college at the historically black university Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fla. At B-CU, she first auditioned to be part of the marching band and made the auxiliary section known as the 14 Karat Gold Dancers.

In summer 2010, after graduating from B-CU, Cooper went on a month-long tour in Japan with “Drumline Live,” the stage production based off of the original movie. While traveling through Japan, rumors of the second movie began to surface.

It would be another four years before Cooper would audition for the role. During those four years, Cooper was part of the performance “Drumline Live,” at halftime for the New York Knicks vs.Brooklyn Nets game in December 2012. Soon after she tried out for the Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders and landed a spot on the squad in 2013 as a rookie, and again as a second-year veteran for the 2014 season.

Cooper credits the Falcon’s cheerleader tryouts in helping to prepare for the movie auditions.

“It was almost like the AFC (Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders) auditions; there were hundreds and hundreds of girls,” Cooper said in a statement. “I think there were actually more girls at this audition than there were at AFC this year.”

More than 300 women tried out for a spot on the 14-member dance team, seven of which make up the fictional Atlanta A&T Dancers. After day one, directors cut the number of girls down to 200, and after the second and final day that included two final cuts, they dropped the number of dancers down to 25.

Cooper learned she made the Atlanta A&T team a week after completing the audition process. She also learned the directors wanted a more personal team and cut 11 additional dancers to make a final total of 14, the Falcons reported.

The movie will air in October on VH1.

By Autria Godfrey
WJLA
September 4, 2014

LEESBURG, Va. (WJLA) – We’ve all heard about the success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Now, a local woman is seeking to raise awareness for another cause, after a harrowing battle of her own.

Lindsey Murray had a life many young women only dream of—she was a Wizards dancer and then a Redskins cheerleader, all while maintaining a professional sales career. Then, she heard the words that changed it all.

“I was not expecting to hear the word ‘tumor’ and ‘chemo’ to come out of my specialist’s mouth,” Murray said. “To be honest, I was in a state of shock.”

Doctors told Murray not to worry about the lump she found in her breast, that it was just an enlarged rib or inflammation. She went undiagnosed for six months until, finally, an oncologist classified her grapefruit-sized lump as a desmoid tumor. It was benign but rare, aggressive and difficult for surgery.

“It’s typically seen in young patients, so most patients are actually fairly healthy with a good lifestyle,” said Dr. Alex Spira. “Nothing we know can cause this.”

Murray underwent five months of chemotherapy, only to discover the tumor had grown by 25 percent. Dr. Spira tried something new—nearly a year of an oral chemotherapy typically only given to liver and kidney cancer patients.

“At that point, every phone call I was getting from him was, ‘It’s growing a little bit,’” Murray said. “My phone rang and I was shaking. And he goes, ‘Lindsey, good news!’ And I literally just, like, fell to the ground.”

The tumor had shrunk by 82 percent, then 99 percent as of April. So grateful, Murray has joined a “Dizzy for Desmoids” Challenge, inspired by the success of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. She hopes to raise both awareness and funds for a cure, and has nominated the current Washington Redskins cheerleading squad to participate.

Because desmoid tumors often re-occur, Murray must now be closely monitored. But she says she wants to turn a negative into a positive and help others with the disease.

Murray’s dancing days aren’t over just yet—she’s just hung up the professional pom poms for now.