High School Football Player Smashes Stereotypes And Makes The Cheerleading Squad

Armand Fernandez-Pierre, a 335-pound high school defensive tackle just made the cheerleading squad – in Texas no less. How awesome is that?

He dominates the football field during the game, then changes uniforms for halftime – and performs stunts and cheers with the cheerleading squad. He also works at Best Buy, performs in theatre, plays lacrosse performs in the school choir and powerlifts. Seriously – this kid is my hero.

Fox sports reports that he managed to participate in both sports by convincing his coaches to work out a compromise:

“The deal was that he and my cheer coach would have to figure a way that I could play both sports in the same season,” Fernandez-Pierre said.

“We fought tooth and nail to keep him just on our team and our sideline,” said Eric Daboa, who is Fernandez-Pierre’s cheer coach. “But we realized what a good athlete he is and understand the opportunities that he may have with football.”

That’s an understatement. He already has colleges including Miami and UCLA showing interest in his ability on the football field. The football is impressive and all, but I’m blown away at how much air a 335-pound football player can get while doing cheer stunts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yay92bTwS1A

I love it when I see kids like this, with the courage to totally disregard gender stereotypes and do what makes them happy. Of course, there are a bunch of trolls on Fox.com making jokes and assumptions – but that’s what happens when you are a trailblazer of sorts. People are always going to have stupid, negative things to say. I seriously doubt they would say any of it to his face though.

Although football and cheer are radically different sports, Fernandez-Pierre notes there are some similarities between the two ”” although he also embraces the sports’ individual qualities: “[Cheer] is about encouraging each other and moving forward as a group and a team,” he said. “When it comes to football I love being able to be, I guess ”” how could you say it ”” brutal.”

 

I love this kid.

(photo: YouTube)