The Washington Football Team will not have cheerleaders for the first time since the NFL's longest-running cheerleading squad was founded in 1962.
Washington will instead have a coed dance team in 2021 as it continues an organizational rebranding effort.
Former Laker Girl manager Petra Pope was hired as an adviser to use her three decades of NBA experience to revamp the group.
NBC News and The Washington Post obtained a statement from the NFL team’s president, Jason Wright, who said, as the team sets out to modernize, he believes it’s important to develop a top-notch entertainment program that keeps its fan-base excited and connected to the game and the team.
The organization had come under fire for allegations of employees making inappropriate videos from calendar photo shoots.
Members of the 2008 and 2010 cheerleading teams reached a confidential settlement, according to lawyers on each side. That settlement is unrelated to this decision.
