Did you know that the Baltimore Ravens are the only team in the NFL with a Coed Cheerleading Squad? The Ravens wanted their stadium to have a collegiate feel, so from the beginning they incorporated the coed cheerleading squad, the marching band and the mascot all as part of their production. The Baltimore Ravens consist of the dance squad and the stunt team. For their end zone dances the teams combine to put on an elaborate spectacle full of jumping, stunting, dancing, and tumbling.
I would like to introduce you to Tony, one of the captains who has been on the team for 6 years. Of course you automatically think, “Man, does this guy get made fun of for cheering in the NFL?” The answer is yes, he did originally until all of his guy friends realized when Tony was invited to the party, there was a potential of a huge group of hot females that would show up to the party as well. “So the poking fun pretty much stopped really quickly,” laughs Tony.
Tony started out cheering at The University of West Virginia. Two of his co-cheerleaders were Jaime and Andrea. The trio all ironically moved to Baltimore after college and Jaime mentioned to Tony that the Ravens were a strong coed team that she thought he should look into trying out for. Tony, Jaime and Andrea all decided to go out for the team and 12 years later they are all not only teammates, but wonderful friends.
Tony is not only the captain of an incredible team, but he also works for DSM Nutritional Products as their international public relations specialist. He develops a PR outreach strategy to raise awareness of the many brain health benefits of DHA omega 3’s, amongst other nutrients, vitamins, and ingredients across the globe. DSM is the largest vitamin supplier in the world.
Ironically, Tony is working in conjunction with The NFL through DSM. Concussions are a huge hot topic in both companies. The leading preventative in brain damage occurring from these concussions is nitrite DHA omega 3’s, so DSM is working very closely with the NFL, NCAA and NHL, through team Doctors and Researchers around the league to raise awareness of DHA in brain health.
Tony knew he wanted to be involved in the media and he graduated with his undergraduate degree in Broadcast Journalism and obtained his Masters in Public Relations. Tony held his own radio show as a DJ during college and as part of Tony’s college curriculum, he was the downtown reporter for WWVU news. Tony really enjoyed the broadcasting portion of reporting, but wanted to get more involved and do more of the research, which is how he found his love and passion for what he is doing today with DSM Nutritional.
Tony is able to travel internationally as a PR consultant for DSM. Through his job he has been able to travel to Australia, China, India, The Netherlands, Mexico and next week he will be in Buenas Aires, Argentina. When the NFL schedule comes out, Tony is pretty much able to plan his entire year. His time management skills have to be extremely precise because he has to base his travel time around the games. It works out nicely because his coach tries to give him all the practice dates as early as possible. His job is flexible around his cheer schedule and his coaches really help to accommodate his work schedule as well. Being able to hold both of his dream jobs seems like an imaginary world for Tony, but at the age of 31, he is keeping up with both and loving every bit of it!
Tony lives by a quote Wiz Khalifa once said, “Work hard, play hard.” He feels that no matter what you do in life, you should enjoy every minute of it.
