As the NFL drives deeper into its 2021 season, the New England Patriots welcomed their third out gay cheerleader, Parker West, to their squad. West is joining two fellow out gay Patriots cheerleading squad-mates, Driss Dallahi and Steve Sonntag, both who joined in 2019, according to a photo profile feature posted yesterday on the Out magazine website.
Writes Out, “Parker West is the newbie man on the squad. The brand and culture coordinator from Byfield, Massachusetts says his greatest fitness achievement is ‘skiing all over the world. He ‘has high hopes for his future,'” and says, “‘In five years, I see myself starring in a reality TV show and being an influencer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and mental health awareness.'”
As for the two veterans, “Sonntag is a school administrator from Colchester, Vermont. This is the third year for Sonntag as a member of the Patriots cheer squad. His Patriots bio says his greatest fitness achievement was hiking the three tallest mountains in his home state [of Vermont].” And Dallahi “is an HR operations generalist from Londonderry, New Hampshire. He’s a trained aerialist meaning he can dance ‘on the ground and in the air.’ He’s also hiked 20 miles of the Great Wall of China.”
Reports Out, “Sonntag told WTBS Boston he first met Dallahi at their tryouts in 2019. It was the first time men had tried out for the team. ‘We didn’t really know the criteria for male cheerleaders auditioning for the New England Patriots, so we kind of created that together in texting back and forth,’ Sonntag said at the time, adding the pair coordinated colors and clothing.”
See the full photo profile feature at out.com.
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