New England Patriots Cheerleader & Neuroscientist Kelly Bennion Is Destroying All the Stereotypes

Photo: The New England Patriots

So much of the hype surrounding the Superbowl isn’t about the actual game, or even football. This year is no exception: there are the commercials featuring Kim Kardashian; there are Katy Perry’s wacky outfits, and there’s the cheerleader who’s also a candidate for a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

Kelly Bennion, 26, has bachelors degree in Spanish and psychology from Middlebury College, a masters in education from Harvard, and she’s a little over a year away from earning the aforementioned Ph.D. at Boston College. In addition to teaching undergrad psych classes and doing sleep research, she’s also in her second season as a New England Patriots cheerleader. Bennion, a lifelong dancer, tried out for the squad on a whim in 2013, the day after she finished her master’s degree. She’s been exceptionally vocal about trying to upend two stereotypes: The dumb cheerleader and the nerdy scientist. She is obviously neither.

Here, she tells Yahoo Style what it’s like to be an NFL cheerleader and the most common misperceptions with which she is confronted.

Yahoo Style: How did you get interested in cheerleading?

Kelly Bennion: I’ve been dancing since I was seven and I really didn’t want to quit. I’ve always known I didn’t want to dance professionally because science and academics have always been a really important part of my life. I knew that I wasn’t going to move to LA at the age of 18 and try to become a professional dancer, but at the same time, I wasn’t ready to quit. I danced professionally in Boston for a few years with a small jazz company and I danced for a major league lacrosse team in Boston as well, but I really just wanted to step up the caliber of my performance. I also really like football so I thought that it would be perfect to try out for the New England Patriots. The auditions were the day after I submitted my master’s thesis. So I went to reward myself, to give myself a day where I could just dance and enjoy myself.

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YS: What was the audition like?

KB: It’s a lot of dance technique and physical fitness. On the first day you do an across-the-floor routine, you learn a dance combo, then you do a bit of a freestyle. That’s a very long day. About 50 or 60 girls move to the final round of auditions, which consists of a swimsuit [competition], answering an interview question, and then also performing two dance routines and a freestyle. There’s also a two-week boot camp before the final squad is announced. I really had no expectations for making the team on the first try because so many girls audition.

Photo: Kelly Bennion

YS: What do your colleagues and students think about the cheerleading side of your life?

KB: Everyone who knows me knows that I’ve always been a dancer, so no one was really surprised.

YS: How much time do you have to commit to it?

KB: Practices are twice a week, and in addition to that you may have between one and four appearances in any given week, and those can be all over New England. I really love those because it gives us a chance to go out in the community. It’s certainly time consuming, but I have a little bit of control over my schedule. I can work very bizarre hours in the lab, and am able to do the appearances that work better with my schedule. My coach is very understanding that we all have jobs or are full-time students.

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YS: What’s the hardest part about being a cheerleader?

KB: I love it so much that I don’t know if there’s a hardest part! I think it’s that anytime we’re going to a practice or promotional appearance, we will double and triple check our bags perhaps an irrational number of times so we don’t forget anything. You actually have to be very organized and manage your time really well. It’s New England and we cheer outside, so we never know what the weather will be like. We always need to have a Sharpie wherever we go so we can sign autographs. I’ve been a part of at least 10 dance groups throughout the past 20 years and the Patriots are definitely the only group I’ve been part of where everyone is punctual.

Photo: Kelly Bennion

YS: Tell me about the uniforms.

KB: We have the whole gamut of uniforms because our first preseason game is in August and it’s very hot. And this year we’re very fortunate to cheer all the way through to the Superbowl. Essentially we have every possible article of clothing in red and navy. So a red sports bra and navy sports bra with different logos on them, things with the rhinestone Patriots logo, our spandex shorts that we work out in, multiple tank tops, t-shirts, long sleeved shirts, jerseys, fleece jackets, and winter coats.

YS: Are you self-conscious at all wearing some of the more bare costumes?

KB: I take it in stride. I think there’s a really healthy and wonderful emphasis on fitness on our team as opposed to being skinny. We focus very much on being strong and fit, and our trainer, Andy Berler, has a lot to do with that along with our nutritionist. They are wonderful in making sure we make really healthy choices, but also that we’re very strong. We exercise together at the stadium and we’ll encourage each other when we start to curl a heavier weight than we used at the start of the season. We’re not only exercising for the next thing. It’s truly a lifestyle. We’re very excited to step out onto the field in our signature uniforms.

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YS: I read that you’re part of an organization called the Science Cheerleaders. What do you do with them?

KB: Science Cheerleaders is an organization that’s meant to promote women going into the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). It provides a great way to connect with these young girls; we already have this connection with them because we all love dancing and cheering. We’re able to show them that cheerleaders are way more than what you might see on the sidelines or what you may think of, playfully combating these negative stereotypes. At the same time I think it’s also great because we can show that we’re also combating the stereotypes of scientists as being cooped up in the lab all day not being social. We’re able to show them you don’t have to choose one, and I really like being a positive role model for these young girls.

YS: Once you finish your Ph.D., what do you hope to do?

KB: Ultimately I want to be a professor of psychology and neuroscience. I would love to teach at an institution that values teaching, but I also love research, so being at an elite liberal arts school would be a nice balance of research and teaching. Before that I will probably be a post-doc research associate for a few years until I get a tenure track faculty position.

YS: How do you deal with negative or sexist or stereotypical comments?

KB: No one has ever really been malicious, but the closest thing I’ve experienced to that is people at promotional appearance talking down to us, thinking that this might be the only thing we do or we’re just a pretty face. What I really love about doing community appearances and getting to meet fans before games is that we get to have conversations with them. It’s a requirement that all 28 girls on the team either have full-time jobs or are students. If anyone makes an assumption that we’re not smart or uneducated, we can very quickly go down the line and tell them what we do in addition to cheerleading. They only see the side of us wearing our sparkly uniforms, but that’s why I think talking to people is so important, and that we are so much more than who you see on the sidelines.

This interview has been edited and condensed.