A 55-year-old Carrollton grandmother is making headlines with her bid to become a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.
“On stage, I blend right in with women in their 20s, 30s and up,” Sharon Simmons told CBS DFW’s Tracy Kornet. “I always wanted to try out. I got real close in my early 20s, but got busy raising my daughter. And I thought, why not now?”
Simmons, who is in excellent shape and competes in fitness competitions, is busy memorizing routines for the May tryouts, which will occur after her 56th birthday. “I love life. I’m having a blast. I’m having a ball,” she said.
NFL.com’s Marc Sessler was impressed with the grandmother of two: “Simmons isn’t some drowsy-afternoons-on-the-porch type, prattling on about the Prohibition era and 10-cent gas. She’s a national fitness competitor and author planning to give Brett Favre’s Father Time act a serious run for the money.” Sessler points out that if Simmons gets a spot on the squad, 42-year-old Laura Vikmanis of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals will lose her status as the NFL’s current oldest cheerleader.
Jon Mark Beilue at the Amarillo Globe-News noted that whether or not Simmons is successful in her bid, “[i]f nothing else, she may be the only candidate old enough to remember when the Cowboys actually went to a Super Bowl.”
Simmons even won a mention on ABC News’ World News Now:
