Category: Football
Panthers transgender cheerleader gets cut from team — then blames exactly what you’d expect
The first transgender cheerleader in the NFL has been ousted from the organization over his gender identity, the dancer claimed.
While male cheerleaders recently sprung into existence in the NFL, Justine Lindsay became the first alleged transgender cheerleader in the league for the Carolina Panthers in 2022.
‘Why the hell would I not wanna come back.’
At the time, the Panthers organization defended the move, saying the TopCats cheer squad members are “hired based on their qualifications and abilities.”
The team told NPR, “We wish all the TopCats, including Justine Lindsay, an incredible season.”
Now more than halfway through the 2025 season, Lindsay claims the reason he was let go by the organization was because he is transgender.
“I was cut because I’m trans,” the cheerleader said during an Instagram live broadcast, according to Them.
“I don’t wanna hear nobody saying ‘She didn’t wanna come back.’ Why the hell would I not wanna come back to an organization that I’ve been a part of for three years?” Lindsay added.
Despite reportedly being “devastated” and “hurt,” the cheerleader pinpointed one person within the organization who was to blame.
(L-R) Justine Lindsay and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell attend a Night of Pride with GLAAD and NFL on February 8, 2023, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for GLAAD)
Lindsay fingered a new Panthers cheerleading coach as the reason for the departure, citing prior interactions with the woman.
“When she came over to our organization, I was like, ‘Oh hell, here we go. Imma have to deal with the same mess that I dealt with two years prior,'” Lindsay claimed.
The 33-year-old accused the team of not “looking at the bigger picture” as far as who the cheerleader was “changing lives for.”
“It was like a big slap in the face to not only me but for the youth,” Lindsay added, before allegedly saying he was cut off after President Trump’s re-election.
The North Carolina native confirmed in August that he had been released by the team but did not provide details surrounding the move. Instead, he provided the following statement to OutSports and insulted the president.
“For now, I’m focusing on my pageantry work and community involvement, striving to be recognized not just as an NFL cheerleader, but as someone making a positive impact, especially during these uncertain times,” he said.
Lindsay called being in the NFL a “stepping stone” before adding, “Don’t let a president who is delusional stop them from reaching their goals whether they are trans, African-American, not American, etc.”
RELATED: Here are all the NFL teams that haven’t virtue-signaled for Pride Month
Carolina Panthers cheerleaders prior to the NFL 2025 game against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium on September 21, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Photo by Kara Durrette/Getty Images
In 2023, Lindsay said he wanted to influence youth through his position and compared his fight to become an NFL cheerleader with becoming a doctor.
“Everything that I’m going through now, it’s bigger than me,” he told Elle. “I’m setting things up for the younger generation. No one is going to stop this show.”
“I want to change the narrative for my trans sisters and brothers, just to [let them] know that if you have a goal, go for it,” he said. “Turn that dream into a reality. Be an NFL cheerleader or a doctor or a nurse or whatever you set your mind to.”
Lindsay says his exodus from the Panthers “doesn’t mean I’m not still with the NFL” and claimed he still has “a lot of great connections” in the league.
“It’s just a slap in the face,” he complained.
Panthers ownership group Tepper Sports Entertainment did not respond to a request for comment.
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Canada’s liberal prime minister gets embarrassed by football fans before country’s biggest game
The average football fan is likely not a big supporter of Canada’s prime minister.
Amid an ongoing trade and tariff war with President Donald Trump, Canada’s Liberal leader, Mark Carney, made an appearance at the Grey Cup, the championship game for the Canadian Football League.
‘We were cheered as well.’
On Sunday night, the East Division champion Montreal Alouettes and the West Division champion Saskatchewan Roughriders faced off at the Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was just an eight-point victory for the Roughriders, 25-17, but for Carney, exactly zero winning was had.
During the playing of the national anthem, fans shockingly paused their singing to boo the prime minister as he appeared on camera.
That was not all, though. During the coin toss, the CEO of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase joined the prime minister, and assuming the fans in Winnipeg were not staunch vocal supporters of physical currency, the raucous boos were likely directed at Carney when his name was announced.
About a minute later, Carney was booed even louder as the referee handed him the ceremonial coin and said, “Mr. Prime Minister, would you do us the honor?”
Mainstream Canadian outlet the National Post even described the boos as having “suddenly increased in volume” as Carney tossed the coin into the air.
Another video from the event went viral and appeared to show at least two fans getting vulgar with the Liberal Party leader.
“Carney! Carney!” a person called out, waving to him at first. The wave then turned into a middle finger, while at the same time a second football fan was heard yelling, “Yeah, you f**king commie, eh?!”
The prime minister was asked about the boos on Monday and claimed that at least some in the crowd were his supporters.
“You were booed,” a reporter said as he entered Parliament, per the National Post. “What does that show you about Western disaffection?”
Carney responded, “We represent the entire country. We were cheered as well,” he claimed.
Carney later posted on X that the national championship “brings Canadians together” and that Sunday’s game was “no exception.”
Manitoba, where the game was played, voted slightly in favor of the Canadian Conservatives in the 2025 federal election, winning seven seats to the Liberals’ six.
Saskatchewan’s fans were more than likely conservative, voting the right-wing party in for 13 seats in 2025; the Liberal Party won just one in the province.
While Montreal’s fans are very proud of their French culture, the province voted in favor of Liberals in the same election, handing them 44 out of a possible 78 seats.
Meanwhile, Carney recently apologized to President Trump over an ad that used former President Ronald Reagan in an attempt to dig at Trump’s tariff policies.
The prime minister placed the blame on Ontario’s Progressive-Conservative Premier Doug Ford, saying “I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” which sparks further questions about the Liberal Party leader’s relationship with what is supposedly an opposing party.
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NFL player apologizes over backlash for doing Trump dance: ‘I did not mean to offend anyone’
A Detroit Lions player says he is sorry if he hurt anyone’s feelings.
The Lions crushed the Washington Commanders 44-22 in Landover, Maryland, on Sunday, in a game that featured a flyover from President Trump in Air Force One.
‘It had nothing to do with who the president was.’
The event included the president in the commentary booth, and Trump swore in members of the military over a chorus of boos from Commanders fans.
Fans were likely equally as perturbed when Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown celebrated a touchdown with Trump’s signature dance, which was a massive trend among athletes in 2024.
Evidence of displeasure from fans was apparent on social media following the game. Detractors called Brown “a f**king disgrace” and a “hoe ass n***a,” while claiming he is “supporting an orange racist, sexist, felon currently stopping people from receiving food.”
On Wednesday, St. Brown took to his podcast to address the controversy. His brother, Equanimeous, brought up the “elephant in the room” less than six minutes into the episode.
“You had a touchdown celebration. Talk about it,” Equanimeous prompted his brother.
Amon-Ra then immediately apologized.
“First of all, if I offended anyone, I do apologize. I did not mean to offend anyone. It was just we’re having fun,” he said on the “St. Brown Podcast.”
The 26-year-old added, “If any president was at that game — if they had a dance, I would have done it. It had nothing to do with who the president was.”
While it seemed that St. Brown was deliberately fence-sitting, he commented on the historic nature of Trump’s appearance at the Commanders’ venue.
“Even after the game, I found out — someone told me that was the first game that a president has been to in over 40 years. So first regular-season game, which is crazy,” he said.
The receiver said the controversy was simply a case of him and his teammates “having fun doing the dance”; “nothing more, nothing less.”
Backing his brother, Equanimeous equally described the “quick shimmy” as “nothing serious, nothing political.”
Trump has become intertwined with the Commanders franchise during his second term, as the team hopes to move back to D.C. and a $2.7 billion stadium.
Trump, the NFL, and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) praised the plans in May while announcing that the city would also host the 2027 NFL Draft.
The president subsequently threatened to suspend the whole deal if the Commanders refused to change their name back to the Washington Redskins. The team abandoned the moniker in 2020, going as the Washington Football Team until rebranding as the Washington Commanders in 2022.
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