A squad of NFL cheerleaders screamed and jumped for joy when a teammate surprised them with news she’s pregnant and they’re all set to become “aunties.”
Cheerleader Makenna, from Las Vegas, Nevada, started dancing when she was three, and became part of the UNLV dance team, winning six National Championships during her time there.
After graduation, Makenna retired from her competitive dancing days, but still with an “itch to scratch,” she decided to try out for the local Las Vegas Raiders’ cheerleading squad, the Raiderettes.
Having made the team, Makenna said it was the honor of a lifetime to spend the next four years cheering and dancing professionally, and she made lifelong friends in a team that became a sisterhood.
It’s usually a tradition that one member of the team is pregnant around the end-of-season banquet, Makenna said, and with her being a married member of the time, and having decided to retire from the team at the end of the season, teammates began jokingly been pointing fingers.
Makenna said she and her husband Dre hadn’t planned on being pregnant around that time, but when she received the good news before just after Thanksgiving, the timing was perfect and she couldn’t wait to tell the Raiderettes after three more games.
It was tough to keep the secret but at the final home game, on January 4, she then had to keep it together between arriving at the stadium, at 6:45am, and when the group huddle for pregame, at 11:30am.
At that point, the team were gathered for what they thought was a photo, but the person taking the image asked the group to shout, “Makenna’s pregnant!”
As soon as the moment hit, Makenna’s delighted teammates screamed and jumped in shock, hugging her in a sweet moment that was also caught on video.
Makenna, who is expecting a boy in August, later shared the moment on social media, hoping to inspire others to cheer people on, and to show the power for friendship and girlhood.
She said: “It was such a surreal moment I truly couldn’t believe it.
“I cried but couldn’t mess up my makeup that the Glamsquad had just done too much.
“I just felt all of the love around me, which just went with me onto the field.
“It was a very emotional game for me, knowing it was my last, but I was entering into my best chapter yet.
“We always say the Raiderettes is a sisterhood, so they will always be there for me.
“It’s kind of a tradition that someone happens to be pregnant around the time of our banquet, and I definitely was not planning on it being me, but I am one of the only girls on the team who is married, so all of the girls were pointing their fingers at me.
“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect.”
