We\u2019re going to say it like they do in the South \u2014 bless his heart.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sen. <\/span>Tommy Tuberville<\/span><\/a> (R-Ala.) says that if NFL teams in the South decide to follow the Minnesota Vikings\u2019 lead and hire male cheerleaders<\/a><\/span>, they\u2019re going to have a \u201chuge problem.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Alabama Republican\u2019s claim came nearly two minutes into Tuesday\u2019s episode of the \u201c<\/span>Outkick Hot Mic<\/span><\/a>\u201d podcast amid a MAGA word salad of a rant that included some not-so-subtle hints of homophobia.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be woke and you\u2019re going to try to, you know, take the men out of men\u2019s sports \u2026 and say, \u2018Okay, we\u2019re gonna make it more about gender than we are about masculinity,\u2019\u201d Tuberville began. \u201cThen you\u2019re gonna have a huge problem.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tuberville went on to say that because the Vikings are based in Minnesota, a \u201cblue state,\u201d they\u2019re \u201cmore about socialism\u201d and are trying to push a narrative. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI hope to God it doesn\u2019t come south to Atlanta or to Texas or to Dallas, or some of our NFL teams, because you\u2019ll lose it,\u201d Tuberville said. \u201cI mean, people will actually quit buying tickets and going because this is the narrative they\u2019re trying to push.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThis is not just about a couple of people being men cheerleaders,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is about pushing a narrative that you want to put gender into sports, and let everybody know that we\u2019re trying to show that, hey, we\u2019re going to take the masculinity out of it a little. And that\u2019s not going to happen in the South.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite Tuberville\u2019s implication that Dallas and Texas are two different entities \u2014 Dallas is, of course, a city in Texas \u2014 the suggestion that football fans in the South wouldn\u2019t support their teams if they hired male cheerleaders is pretty laughable. Especially since at least three NFL teams in the South already have them \u2014 the <\/span>New Orleans Saints<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/span><\/a> and the <\/span>Tennessee Titans<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tuberville\u2019s claim that the left is trying to push some narrative about gender in sports is also weird, considering<\/span> it\u2019s the GOP that has an obsession with transgender kids participating in sports<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for the backlash the Vikings have received for hiring two new male cheerleaders, Louie Conn and Blaize Shiek, for their 2025 roster, the team is standing firm on their decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n 20 Years Of<\/span>Free<\/span>Journalism<\/span><\/p>\n Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n Your Support Fuels Our Mission<\/p>\n![\"Minnesota](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/68a643aa170000051363ea44.jpeg?cache=2M25GsE6wq&ops=scalefit_720_noupscale&format=webp)
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