Sports
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Abby Goes Viral With Pom-Pom Care TikTok
“I had no idea this had to be done.”
The exhilarating moments under the lights are just part of being a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. With the glitz and glamour come more onerous tasks, as fans have seen through the Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts and the cheerleaders’ social media posts. Most recently, DCC Abby Summers showed off the extensive pom-pom care required of the squad members in a viral TikTok from June 30.
DCC Pom-Pom Fluffing
Summers, a rookie during the 2024-2025 season, revealed a time-consuming task during her TikTok. She brought viewers along with her as she fluffed her pom-poms, a chore that involves tying on ribbons, one by one. To make the job a little more exciting, she caught up on Love Island as she worked, but she still only finished one pom before running out of steam for the night.
“We just tie knots in them, like so,” she said. “Just keep repeating this process, tying different directions, till it gets fluffy.”
Fans were surprised to see her have to do the fluffing herself. “I had no idea this had to be done,” one wrote. Summers responded, “Me too,” alongside three face-with-tears-of-joy emojis.
When asked how many sets of pom-poms each cheerleader gets, she gave the answer: just “one pair of gameday poms per szn!”
Pay Controversy
The extra work for the cheerleaders upset some viewers. “DCC is really making these girls fluff poms… at home… off the clock??” one person wrote. Another added, “You guys are so dedicated & talented, yet they act like such an amateur organisation… uniforms washed & poms pre-fluffed for all DCC!!!”
Many comments referenced the fact that the cheerleaders are also responsible for laundering their uniforms. DCC Ava Lahey showed her complex washing routine in a viral TikTok in late May. Then, there was another glimpse in America’s Sweethearts Season 2, when her teammate Reece Weaver scrubbed her spray tan stains off her white shorts with a toothbrush before machine-washing her uniform.
Lahey’s video originally drew numerous critical responses. “They pay you hardly anything AND make you wash your own uniform,” one person wrote, per People. The comments have since been turned off.
America’s Sweethearts Season 2 saw the cheerleaders fight for a raise because they felt like their contracts were “not up to par,” as veteran DCC Jada McLean put it. Several cheerleaders opened up about struggling to balance their cheerleading commitments with other jobs to make ends meet.
“I think as a team this year, we wanted to set an example for the entire NFL as far as cheerleading goes, and we just wanted to take a stand,” DCC Armani Latimer explained on Today in June.
Though the 2024-2025 squad didn’t see changes to their contracts, the 2025-2026 team is getting a 400% pay increase.
