I can hear all of the jokes coming in the comments section now. Yes, it’s true. The Oakland Raiders have hired a grandmother for their cheerleader squad.
Susie Sanchez is a 37-year-old dancer who has just been assigned as a sideline cheerleader for the Raiders in the 2011-12 season. Sanchez is not your typical thought when you think of a grandmother. She’s a mother of three and grandmother of one but still managed to impress the cheerleading squad after multiple auditions.
Sanchez again impressed the judges with her dancing ability, skill and presence later that week — she had been dancing since she was 8, after all — and she can now safely say she is the oldest member of the Raiderettes as well.
“I just started crying,” she said after she heard her number called — lucky No. 45. “It was like, ‘wow.’ I was overwhelmed with emotion … just never give up.”
While you may have never heard of a woman this old being a cheerleader, she isn’t the first grandmother to cheer for the Raiders. That honor belongs to Kathy Ferrin who was a Raiderette in the 2003-04 season.
As uncommon as it may seem, Sanchez isn’t the oldest cheerleader in the league. The Bengals’ Laura Vikmanis is 42-years-old and still going strong as a cheerleader. I guess Jay-Z was right when he said, “30’s the new 20…”