The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs is complete with a flurry of upsets. Top seeds Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, and Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans both were sent home for the season, and the Los Angeles Rams added one final upset on Sunday's early game as the kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired to beat Tom Brady and his defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Buccaneers.
It was only the second playoff win in 13 seasons for quarterback Matthew Stafford, both wins coming in his first season with the Rams. Next up, the Rams host their hated rival San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Conference Final this Sunday to determine who will play in the season's final game, and once again they'll be cheered on by Quinton Peron and his fellow out cheerleader Napoleon Jinnies.
Peron and Jinnies made history in 2019 when they became the first male cheerleaders in the National Football League's history to cheer at the Super Bowl. Perhaps even more significant, however, was the fact that both did so as openly gay men, having cheered on the Rams all the way to the Super Bowl in their very first season with the team!
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
Peron is a professional dancer and choreographer who calls Rancho Cucamonga in California home.
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
Watching him dance, many might think he started dancing before he could talk. But as Peron tells it, it was one moment at the age of 12 that set him on the road to cheerleading history.
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
"I played basketball and baseball for 12 years -- was great at it, but I knew it wasn't it," Peron told In The Know last year. "The minute I saw tWitch on So You Think You Can Dance, and he was a Black guy, looked just like me. He was dancing, he was jazz hands-ing, hip-hop dancing and all that stuff. That was when I was like, 'Oh, this is it -- I can do it, there's a lane for me.'"
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
"Three years ago, I was at a Lakers game with my best friends, and I caught a glimpse of the Laker Girls performing mid-court," Peron told Metrosource. "I recognized a few of them on the court and asked myself, "Why can't I do that?" I danced with a few of these girls in high school and college, and in fact, I had taught a few of them at various workshops and masterclasses. I decided to call a friend who had been a Rams cheerleader the year prior to ask about auditions."
And the rest is history.
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
Peron told Metrosourcehe has never personally experienced homophobia in the NFL, saying the league has been "very supportive" of the out cheerleader, but he added that he "faced some adversity" from straight male cheerleaders on other teams he felt were a bit jealous of the attention he and fellow out cheerleader Napoleon Jinnies received as the first out cheerleaders in NFL history.
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
"Teams like the Ravens and the Titans have what we call 'stuntmen,' male cheerleaders who tumble and toss the girls in the air," he told Metrosource. "I am not a stuntman, nor do I try to be. I was one of the first two males to be fully integrated with the girls, meaning that we do the same choreography, every dance step, every battement, every pirouette, every jete, and every high v! That is what makes me different."
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
"Don't try to make other people comfortable," posted to social media for Pride month last year. "You're not put on this earth to abide by somebody else's rules. I'm not here to make you comfortable. So I'm going to continue to be me, and that's it. Happy to be honoring Pride in this campaign!"
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
Peron's most embarrassing experienced took place while he was competing in Orlando, Florida, a few years back.
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
"The night before the big day, my teammates and I went to Black Angus and it all went downhill from there," he told Metrosource. "Apparently, the grilled chicken that I ordered was raw and went straight through me. I was horribly sick the next morning. So sick that when I went on stage to perform, I had an accident in my pants on stage. (And if you were wondering I STILL KILLED MY PERFORMANCE!)."
Let's hope Peron didn't dine on raw chicken last night!
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
Congratulations, Quinton Peron, on a successful season and career! Let's hope you can keep cheering all the way to the Super Bowl!
All photos by @itsaquintonthing and @Qperon
