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NFL welcomes its first male cheerleaders this season

The Rams Cheerleaders stand on the field prior to the start of the preseason game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. Aug. 12, 2017. Josh Lefkowitz/Getty Images

We’ll be seeing more men on the football sidelines this season, but they won’t be in the stands. Rather, for the first time in NFL history, they’ll be dancing alongside the cheerleaders as part of the squad.

The Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints will welcome their first male cheerleaders this season. Unlike the Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts, who have men on their squads to perform stunts, these new male additions to the spirit squads will be dancing alongside their female colleagues.

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Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies will bring their professional dance training to the Rams team, which they joined in March, while Jesse Hernandez joins New Orleans’ Saintsations squad.

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In an interview with Good Morning America after making the team, Peron and Jinnies detailed their experience.

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“I thought, ‘Why not me? Why can’t I do this?'” Peron said about his decision to audition for the squad.

They were among 76 finalists, 40 of whom made the team.

“This [audition] was about three weeks long and we had a bunch of rehearsals in between and an extensive interview process, but it was really humbling and amazing to be invited every time you came back,” Jinnies said.

As it turned out, their story also served as an impetus for Hernandez to try out.

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READ MORE: Behind the pom-poms: The life of a pro football cheerleader

In an interview with KATC, Hernandez said that his mother alerted him to the news about Jinnies and Peron, which inspired him to give it a go.

“She told me it was my time to shine,” he said in a YouTube video leading up to his final audition. “The process has been great. Everyone has been really nice to me and I can’t wait to see where this goes.”

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