As the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders fought for changes to their contracts on season 2 of America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, longtime choreographer Judy Trammell raised eyebrows for a comment she made about the women balancing their cheerleading career — which now often includes and influencing — while working outside and sometimes multiple jobs.
DCC Amanda Howard spoke to Judy and director Kelli Finglass about the salary issue on the Netflix show, saying, “I do hope that one day we can get the cheerleaders paid more. We work extremely hard, and I think all of these girls would quit their full-time jobs in order to be Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”
Judy responded, “But why do we want people to quit their full-time jobs when that’s what’s so impressive about ya’ll?”
During an interview with Us Weekly ahead of the June 18 release, Judy admitted, “I still kind of feel that way.”
“We have been so proud of their careers and I get that it’s going in a different direction — influencing — than we’re used to,” she told Us. “So if they can make money that way too, then I guess they’re better off for it. But I don’t know, it was a new thing for us to hear about and that a lot of them have quit their jobs to become full-time influencers. And I guess we helped them along the way and this has been a good forum for them to progress with that.”
Jada McLean, who helped lead the charge for the women to ultimately obtain a “400 percent” increase in their contracts after the 2024-25 NFL season, reacted to the remark in an interview with Time.
“The reality of having to balance two or three or four jobs isn’t easy, and it’s hard to be the best at something when you feel like you’re having to spread yourself thin in other areas instead of fully committing to that one thing,” she said.
On season 2, fans learned that the squad organized a walkout to send a message about their contracts to the Cowboys organization, but that plan fell through when someone leaked their plan to the team.
Kelli — who told Us that she has “dabbed” in influencing herself but is “bad at it” and doesn’t “get it” — said her goal was “to keep the team’s momentum forward moving” as they heard about the contract discussions.
“We stayed focused on the job at hand,” she said. “We knew there were some discussions going on. We also know that every spring, we reevaluate as an organization — all things on all programs. We’re thrilled that the girls are happy with the enhancements that are made. We had a great season with the cheerleaders. We didn’t win as many football games as we wanted to, but this group of cheerleaders they’ve had a very, very special year.”
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is streaming on Netflix.
