This 49ERS’ Cheerleader Is Breaking Boundaries for the Gold Rush Squad

Jonathan Romero has taken his passion for dance to a different level. The 49ers’ Gold Rush Squad now progresses towards a gender-neutral team and Romero is the initial pathbreaker by becoming the first male to join the squad.  

Dance has always been a happy place and a form of liberation for Romero. Let us go through his journey from practicing to accomplishing an opportunity to secure his place in one of the NFL cheerleading squads.

The inception of the journey of Jonathan Romero toward the cheerleading dream

Beginning his journey with the Sac Dance Lab in Sacramento, Jonathan Romero found a place for expressing his inclination towards dance both as an individual and as a gay man. Following this, he took up a mentorship role coaching a high school cheer and dance team that included a gay dancer.

Read More: 19-Year-Old California Dancer Is Showcasing Her Moves as an NFL Team Cheerleader

Drawing inspiration from this experience, he proceeded to elevate his dancing journey to the next chapter taking part in an audition for the then-all female cheer team. Before sending his audition tape for the 49ers’ cheerleading team, Jonathan Romero was running low on motivation and had no hope of cracking through the selection process. The roster had no male participant that catalyzed his despair. 

Although he had a core background in dancing, Romeo shared his passion for cheerleading with Outsports, “One thing I wish people knew is the extent to which each individual who partakes in cheer is absolutely an athlete. The time, the passion, the competition, cheer is identifiable as a sport.”

Pioneering the way

Immediately after the audition, he heard back from the Gold Rush squad and is now an integral part of the cheerleading team. With him, the community of the male NFL cheerleaders is also growing, eliminating the gender biases that prevailed within the sport.

Even a decade ago the NFL cheerleading team was devoid of any male cheerleaders and the groundbreaking move was taken by Quinton Peron and Napoleon Jinnies. The trend has been growing since with the popular cheerleading army holding a significant number of male comrades.

While reiterating his journey from the beginning till now, Jonathan Romero pointed out that even though the situation has changed in publicly coming out as gay male cheerleaders in the NFL, the situation among players and coaches has failed to show any remarkable progress. Among the NFL football team, only player Carl Nassib and coach Kevin Maxen have publicly come out about their orientation.  

As a male member of a primarily female team, Romero’s experience has been nothing short of positive and extraordinary. His nervousness was substituted by the unwavering support that he received. With Romero, the San Francisco 49ers’ Gold Rush squad has embraced individuality in professional cheerleading and will continue with their journey of implementing gender equality in their team.

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