The Gift of NFL Cheerleaders

Tomorrow is the NFL Pro Bowl. The last game of the season for America's favorite sport. And our last chance to catch the gorgeous sight that are the legs and stomachs of the most beautiful women in professional sports... the NFL cheerleaders.

Now, some of you are nodding your heads and panting your tongues in agreement. To me, if I'm not watching a Chargers game, I'm usually only watching for the cheerleader camera. Yes, I admit it, I'm fairly immature when it comes to seeing twenty to thirty drop-dead gorgeous women wearing team logos, miniskirts, and pom-poms.

Of course, some of you are rolling your eyes, scoffing, stuck in your age-old mentality that cheerleaders are mindless bimbos who just want to be gawked at and groped.

Well now, that's just plain stupid.

In recent discussions with my nephew (who shall remain nameless), I was shocked to discover that he despised cheerleaders for being "mindless bimbos" who, according to him, were also "way too peppy. Keep in mind that this boy is in the EMO crowd (one strike) and thinks that buying his two best friends $20 Best Buy gift cards for Christmas while only getting his girlfriend a three-foot long piece of chocolate (despite being given $40 to get her a necklace) is okay (two strikes). So, for sake of this argument, let's not hold his dislike of cheerleaders against him (three strikes... oops).

Anyway, this nephew of mine not once takes into account that these women on the sidelines hold varied careers, have or are earning college degrees, are extremely flexible (though over 16, he hasn't a clue what sort of adventures this characteristic can lead to), and just, well, drop-dead gorgeous. Yes, I'm straddling the line of being a tad stereotypical myself, but what can I say? I'm a male pig.

Before I stray too far, let's present the evidence:

Houston Texans cheerleader, "Summer." This is her bio from the Texans website:
"Summer was born and raised in Kansas and is a 2003 graduate of Wichita State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. She currently works as an engineer at NASA's Johnson Space Center. In 2002 Summer became a VFR rated private pilot and plans to continue flying to earn more ratings. She also enjoys riding motorcycles."

Mindless bimbo? Hardly. This woman is at least twice as smart as me, and then some. I think I have nicer legs, but that's beside the point.

Other examples include Jennifer of the Philadelphia Eagles (Financial Data Systems Analyst), Tara of the Cincinnati Bengals (a PhD student of Cellular and Molecular Cancer Biology), Lauren of the Washington Redskins (Neurotherapist), and the list goes on.

In fact, this "brains meets beauty" characteristic seems to be the rule with NFL cheerleaders, rather than the exception.

Regardless, at the end of it all, it's pretty clear that these women represent our society as a whole. They come from all walks of life, have varied education and experience levels, and, despite the fact that they're all gorgeous, come from different ethnic, religious, and social backgrounds. Knowing all of this just makes them even more attractive to me. And in recognition of this, while I offer no guarantees, I will try to keep my tongue from hanging out in the future.

These women are a gift to sports fanatics everywhere. To be cherished for eight home games a season (plus playoffs). I can only hope my nephew comes around.

To the seven teams that don't have cheerleaders (Bears, Lions, Packers, Browns, Steelers, Giants, Jets), you suck.

Oh, and GO CHARGER GIRLS!