Thought this was worth sharing.

The Washington Football Team is currently undergoing a comprehensive rebrand, as you know. They eliminated the “Redskins” nickname, hired new executives, and are working with advisers to change the culture within the team from top to bottom.

One of those changes is going to be on the sidelines, where the cheerleading squad is being replaced by a co-ed dance team, as explained here by Jori Epstein at USA Today:

….after more than 50 seasons with a consistent cheerleading presence, a coed dance squad will take the field for the WFT’s gameday entertainment. Petra Pope, the club’s newly hired senior adviser, told USA TODAY Sports on Tuesday that the new dance squad looks to become more modern and diverse, with a “skillset of being super athletic, which is what we’re really honing in on.” 

“We want to be more inclusive, so we are going to invite a coed entity (to audition),” Pope said. “We’re able to do more things with the strength of a male, and lifts, so that’s changed a great deal. The inclusivity, strength and interest of choreography has changed.”

You’ll recall that one of the controversies surrounding the team involved the 2008 and 2010 cheerleading squads. There were accusations that high-level executives within the franchise oversaw the production of a video that featured clips of those women, taken from calendar shoots, in which they weren’t fully clothed. In a Washington Post article, it was alleged that the video was put together for owner Daniel Snyder.

According to USA Today, that matter was “resolved” following a 2020 settlement.

Interestingly enough, some former cheerleaders aren’t happy with the new direction, and one is quoted in a story at the local FOX affiliate in DC:

Captain Candess Correll said her teammates were made aware the cheerleading squad would be paused during a quick video call that was scheduled only 30 minutes ahead of time. 

“For this to come so sudden, I’m so confused and shocked and I don’t understand the reasoning,” said Correll. “I think that everyone can agree that the circumstances with how – to be quite honest – we were terminated from our contract was extremely unprofessional and not fair and not how you should – at bare minimum – treat humans yet your employees.”

…

To some, the timing of the pause seems odd. This suspension of the cheerleading squad comes after a settlement was reached with the team over claims that a lewd video was made of cheerleaders using photos from swimsuit calendar shoots. There is also an ongoing investigation into the team’s alleged culture of sexual harassment.

The TL:DR version is that Washington continues to try to rebrand itself and clean up the crappy culture that former employees allege existed. In this case, it appears as though the current cheerleaders are getting hosed because of things that are out of their control, and that seems unfair, looking at the story externally.

Knowing how dysfunctional this franchise was, it’s absolutely ridiculous that they went on to win the NFC East with seven wins. The Eagles should be ashamed.