Only for Guild Members » Time’s up for cheerleaders or dancers

Jason Licht says one valuable lesson he's learned in four years of running Tampa Bay's draft is to trust his instinct.

It worked well for the general manager when he selected Mike Evans No. 7 overall in 2014. And Youth Tracy Walker Jersey , he's confident the Buccaneers will land another impact player if the team stays put and picks seventh again this week.

"If there's a player that you really like and you feel very, very confident in, you shouldn't hesitate to take the player. Sometimes getting cute, moving back, can cost," Licht said.

"It goes back to how are you going to feel in bed at night after the first day, the second day? Are you going to feel good or are you going to feel bad that you passed an opportunity to take a guy that you really liked? ... Sometimes you can fall in love with a player too much, too, and mortgage your future and give up picks. We haven't done that, but I've restrained from doing that."

The Bucs addressed pressing needs to improve an anemic pass rush and bolster depth on the defensive line by trading for Jason Pierre-Paul and signing Beau Allen and Vinny Curry in free agency.

Nevertheless, Licht still has some holes to fill if Jameis Winston is going to lead the Bucs to their first playoff berth in more than a decade.

Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James are highly regarded prospects Tampa Bay could consider for the seventh pick.

Marcus Davenport and tackle Vitea Vea might be possibilities, too, especially if Licht accepts an offer to trade down.

If there's one thing that stood out to Licht in studying film of the Super Bowl champion Eagles in evaluating Allen and Curry for free agency is that a team can never have too many pass rushers and run-stoppers.

Former Ravens center Ryan Jensen has been the biggest addition on offense this offseason. Running back, guard and tackle are positions Licht and coach Dirk Koetter may try to upgrade in later rounds.

Not that Licht is providing much insight into his plans.

With as many as three or, possibly, four quarterbacks under consideration to be selected early, this year's top 10 is difficult to project.

"I don't like picking at seven just because it means it's a repercussion of your season, the disappointment of the season before," Licht said.

"But, with Mike Evans it worked out. So hopefully it's a lucky number seven Jaire Alexander Color Rush Jersey ," the GM added. "There are enough players there, if no quarterback went above us, that we would be very excited about if we stayed put."

WHERE'S THE RUSH?

The Bucs were last in the NFL with 23 sacks last season. They haven't had a double-digit sack leader since Simeon Rice in 2005, which is one of the reasons they're so excited to have Pierre-Paul.

The hope is the presence of the former Giants star will help six-time Pro Bowl tackle Gerald McCoy raise his game to an even higher level. Third-year pro Noah Spence has shown flashes as a pass rusher, but has been injured most of his career.

HELP FOR JAMEIS?

While finding a running back capable of easing the burden on Winston to carry the offense is a priority, it's generally felt the Bucs would like to find more help on defense before eyeing a replacement for Doug Martin, who was released.

With Brent Grimes turning 35 this summer and Vernon Hargreaves III, a first-round pick two years ago, losing his starting job last season, it's important to strengthen the secondary.

Licht says he likes Fitzpatrick and James, though it remains to be seen how much. Both figure to be available if Tampa Bay picks seventh.

"The thing about Minkah is that he's played a lot of slot this year. He's played outside corner and in that slot position, (and) you can see some of the things that he would do at safety," Licht said. "He's a really smart guy and versatility is a great asset of his. ... We have a plan if he were the pick, what we'd do with it, what we'd do with him. We like the fact that he can do a lot of those things."

As for James: "He's also a versatile guy, but he's more of a strong safety," the GM said. "But he can also drop down in your sub packages and play linebacker. He's another good player."

HITS, MISSES AND BARGAINS

The Bucs haven't made the playoffs since 2007 and haven't won a postseason game since the franchise's 2002 run to a Super Bowl title.

A spotty draft record is one of the reasons. Winston was the No. 1 overall pick three years ago and had a pair of 4,000-yard seasons passing before taking a step back, largely because injuries Jamal Adams Jets Jersey , in 2017.

Evans has topped 1,000 yards receiving four consecutive seasons and recently became one of the highest-paid receivers in the league. There have been notable misses over the past five years 鈥?none bigger than kicker Roberto Aguayo, selected in the second round in 2016.

He struggled as a rookie and was cut early in training camp the following year.

Licht hasn't had much success finding gems in later rounds, however middle linebacker Kwon Alexander has exceeded expectations, going from a fourth-round pick in 2015 to the Pro Bowl in his third season.

This is not a rant against cheerleading.

That’s a legitimate sport, played by elite athletes – men and women – who are worthy of admiration for their daring and skill.

There might even come a day when cheerleaders are competing for gold, silver and bronze at the Olympics.

None of which has anything to do with what happens on the sidelines of an NFL or NBA game.

Those are scantily clad performers often leered at by fans – or, as we’re learning, perhaps even worse.

The (hash)MeToo era is the perfect time to retire these objectified, chauvinistic relics (and, while we’re at it, ditto for the barely clothed women who climb into the ring to tell us what round it is at boxing and MMA events).

”There is a misconception that cheerleading is just sideline dancing. This could not be further from the truth,” said Savannah Parrot, an 11th-grade cheerleader at Niwot High School in Colorado. ”Cheerleaders are athletes. We compete in local, state, national and international competition and are evaluated on the difficulty of our routines including advanced tumbling passes and intricate stunt sequences.

”If the NFL and NBA wanted to have cheerleaders,” she went on to say, wise beyond her years, ”I have no doubt that qualified athletes would be honored to represent our sport.”

That’s not what the NFL and NBA want, of course.

They’re looking for attractive dancers showing lots of skin Authentic Da'Shawn Hand Jersey , apparently in the belief that sex is one of the best ways to keep fans entertained beyond the product on the field or court.

And, according to a report by The New York Times , cheerleaders from Washington’s NFL team were forced to play an even seedier role behind the scenes.

During a 2013 trip to Costa Rica, they allege their passports were collected, they were asked to go topless for a calendar photo shoot that included male spectators, and they served as escorts for sponsors at a nightclub. The cheerleaders quoted in the report spoke on condition of anonymity because they signed confidentiality agreements.

The team said it’s concerned by the allegations and conducting an investigation, but we all know where this is going. Already, team president Bruce Allen said many current and former cheerleaders are contradicting allegations in the report.

At least the NBA had the good sense to break from any pretense that these are cheerleaders, adorning their groups with names such as the Knicks City Dancers and Memphis Grizz Girls. These are dance groups, pure and simple, often performing sex-tinged routines that are a focal point of the between-game entertainment.

In the NFL, the dancers play a less-prominent role (the stadiums, after all, are much larger) but they’re still passed off as cheerleaders, for no apparent reason. They are certainly not there to lead cheers. Their main purpose seems to be wiggling around as provocatively as possible for the men in the crowd, all while ignoring how many women are now in the stands.

This not-so-proud tradition can largely be traced to the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders becoming cultural icons in the 1970s, though it’s worth noting that venerable franchises such as the Green Bay Packers, New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have cheerleading squads.

It doesn’t seem to have hurt their popularity or success on the field.

”It is way past time for the NFL and NBA to get rid of cheerleaders,” said Jeffrey McCall, a professor of media studies at DePauw University in Indiana. ”Other pro sports such as hockey and baseball seem to manage without thinly clad women as part of the game-day experience.”

These faux cheerleaders look increasingly archaic when so many women are stepping forward to say enough’s enough.

”Given today’s concerns about sexual harassment and domestic violence Cheap Logan Cooke Jersey , the NFL and NBA clearly have tin ears in this matter,” McCall said. ”Cheerleaders at pro games don’t really cheer and inspire fans or players anyway. They are simply ornaments.”

That should be offensive to all of us, but especially those who are actual cheerleaders.

Tens of thousands of athletes participate in this rapidly growing sport at competitions around the United States, which prompted Disney to build a new 8,000-seat arena at its Wide World of Sports complex in Florida for those types of events.

In 2016, the International Olympic Committee even recognized cheerleading as a provisional sport , the first step toward possibly claiming a spot at the Summer Games.

Of course, cheerleading also serves as a complement to sports such as football and basketball.

That’s just fine, too.

”It is called cheerleading because their role is to lead the crowd in cheering for the team,” said Shauna MacDonald, assistant director of the Gender & Women Studies Program at Villanova University. ”This, I think, can still be a positive and interesting purpose. Cheering is part of the ritual of sport, especially in North America, and having people to pep up the crowd and lead the cheers is a good thing.

”We know that this doesn’t require cheerleading to look exactly as it does, because bands and pep squads also serve in these roles. In order for the culture of cheerleading to change, however, there would have to be some sweeping cultural shifts.”

There’s no sign of it happening in the NFL or NBA.

Time’s up for cheerleaders or dancers of whatever you want to call them.

—

Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at .

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