From what we've heard, NFL cheerleaders have some of the worst jobs in the world. Sure, there is certainly some prestige that comes along with being a cheerleader for the most popular sport in the United States. But, the girls who cheer for the NFL often make very little money for providing their services and have to put in a lot of work in order to stay on their respective teams while also holding down full-time jobs elsewhere. We didn't know their jobs were this bad, though.
Earlier this week, a Baltimore Ravens cheerleader named Courtney Lenz (peep some photos of her in the thumbs gallery) made an appearance on Access Hollywood and revealed that, although she's been cheering for the Ravens for five years now, she was sent an email recently indicating that she will not be one of the Ravens cheerleaders cheering at Super Bowl XLVII this year. And, why won't she be cheering? Well, according to Lenz, it's because she gained about two pounds at one point during the 2012-13 NFL season.
"They said that I had quote, unquote, a rough year," she said. "I'd been benched earlier in the season for a little bit of a weight gain. We do get weighed every week during the season, and you can't fluctuate at all. I gained, I think it was 1.8 pounds. I had been consistent and they let me cheer previously and then I gained 1.8 or 1.6 pounds and they said I had gained weight."
Missing the Super Bowl over 1.8 pounds? Seems crazy to us (especially after looking at her photos!). But, Lenz says it's true.
"During the season, I was 124," she said. "That was consistently. They wanted me to get back down to 121, 120, which is what I was at when I was 18, 19 when I started on the team. That was the only disciplinary action I had during the year. I got benched because of my weight, and they said that was the reason. Anybody that had disciplinary action taken during the season was automatically disqualified [from the Super Bowl]…However, there are some girls on the team that were also benched for their weight and are going. So, they just aren't consistent, it isn't fair."
The Ravens put out a statement yesterday that essentially said that they're only allowed to bring 32 of their cheerleaders to the big game on Sunday so somebody had to miss out. But, again: Missing the Super Bowl over 1.8 pounds? That just seems crazy. No wonder Lenz says this is her last season with the team.
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[via SportsGrid]
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