Former NFL cheerleader returns home

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  • Murphy native and former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Sheridan led a workshop at Murphy School of Dance on Aug. 3-4.
    Murphy native and former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Sheridan led a workshop at Murphy School of Dance on Aug. 3-4.
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Murphy – It was a full circle moment for local native and former Baltimore Ravens cheerleader Sheridan on Aug. 3-4 at Murphy School of Dance.

After taking classes at the school growing up, and returning to take classes again when she was back in the area around 2019, she returned to the school to lead a workshop for young dancers.

“It just goes back to the community,” Sheridan said. “This is a way to give back to my hometown, this a way to make an impact, this is a way to inspire the next generation of strong female leaders.”

The workshop was split into two sessions, one for younger dancers and another for older ones. She went over the basics with both groups, and even added some cheers the Ravens did that they could bring to local teams.

“This is kind of the bread and butter of what I like to do,” she said. “It’s a big deal to dance on the field and it’s really fun, and I know a lot of girls do it because they love cheering the team on. But I do it because I love the fans, and I love the little girls that I can inspire.”

Since being profiled by the Cherokee Scout in January, Sheridan has had some big changes in her life. She tore her meniscus in October while cheerleading, then delayed having surgery until January so she could still be on the field despite being unable to dance. In July, she moved to Seattle because of her husband’s job.

After teaching high school math at a private school in the Washington area, she accepted a job as a senior technical consultant for Esri, a geoscience mapping company. It’s not that she didn’t enjoy teaching and inspiring young people, but she became frustrated with the limits on what she could teach her kids. 

She’s also not cheerleading, though she considered trying out for the Seattle Seahawks. However, after talking with her husband about trying out, she reconsidered. Besides teaching 12 hours a day, six days a week, NFL cheerleading is a part-time job. That left little time for other things, and sometime Sheridan wonders how she was ever able to make it work.

“It’s an absolutely bonkers schedule,” she said. “And on top of that the commitments that you have for practice, there’s not even all of them because there’s appearances, there’s games, there’s practicing for practice. So it ends up taking up the majority of your life.”

Despite the long hours and exhausting schedule, Sheridan misses the NFL cheerleading life. She was one of seven rookie cheerleaders for the Ravens last year, and five of them returned for their second year. At times, she finds herself looking on their social media accounts, wishing she could be going through the same experiences with them.

While the schedule can be brutal, the people involved make Sheridan long to return to the NFL cheerleading scene. She felt protected and a part of the Ravens organization, as they had a first-year orientation as well as an end-of-year banquet for cheerleaders.

They also welcome cheerleaders back into the organization if they want to take time off, including several Sheridan worked with this year. Ravens cheerleader alumni even host a barbecue at a preseason game every year.

When asked if there was one thing that could make the job better, Sheridan quipped, “If we could get some better parking, that would be awesome.”

Last week’s workshops marked the first time Sheridan had danced since tearing her meniscus in October. She’s planning to join a tumbling and cheer gym in Seattle to hone her cheer skills. She feels solid in her dance skills, but needs to improve her cheer skills if she wants to try out again for an NFL team. 

Sheridan said she and her husband only plan on living in Seattle for a few years, with plans to move back to the D.C. area, and she would like to return to the Ravens when that happens. If she doesn’t try out for the Seahawks while she’s out West, she knows she can’t go back into professional cheerleading on a whim.

She trained for about a year and a half before becoming a Ravens cheerleader. The basic skills always stay with you, but Sheridan said there’s a certain level of style NFL cheerleading teams look for that you need to train.

When she knew she was moving to Seattle, one of her cheer coaches for the Ravens told her not to settle. She thought Sheridan had a lot to offer, and really look for an opportunity that she would be happy with.

She knows she has that with the Ravens, and knows that opportunity will be with her even if she doesn’t find one she likes in Seattle. As they say in the dancing community, once a dancer, always a dancer. 

“It’s just a maturity and stage of my life where I’m going to do this for me,” Sheridan said.

“And if I don’t want to do it, I’m not going to do it.”