Day 4: Giving Back
Almost Pro Bowl Game day 12s! Today started with a 7:30 am call time for breakfast, where more of the members of the Pro Bowl Cheerleaders shared their life stories during breakfast. Truly inspiring to hear the story of a cheerleader who was adopted at a young age and has overcome many obstacles to get to the place where she is today. It helps put what is really important in perspective.
As a squad, we went to the NFL tree planting ceremony in Glendale. It is an iniative that the nfl has put on to promote sustainability. I met lots of volunteer 12s and was able to plant fruit trees, but also help pick fruit for the St. Mary's food bank, which is the oldest food bank in the country. It was so neat to see how the NFL is giving back to the community but also trying to help reduce waste and our carbon footprint.
We then hussled back to the hotel to get ready for practice at the University of Phoenix Stadium and wear our new costumes that the LineUp provided to all the probowl cheerleaders. We finally arrived at the stadium, which is so cool. The setup of the stadium is very spacious with an cool retractable roof and a raised field. There is a main stage that sits under the huge jumbo trom where we will be preforming one of our routines. I couldn't help but envision the 12s filling all the seats for next week's game! Can't wait
We then went back to the hotel to change into our costumes for the nfl experience at the Phoenix convention center. There were so many 12s representing! Many of them staying for the whole week. I also got to see some cool football memorabilia! It was a long day but had a blast. One more sleep until he cruel pro bowl game.
Day 3: Practice, Practice, Practice
Woke up bright and early at 3:30am to get ready for a news appearance, with a call time of 5:00am. Had such a great time teaching the news anchors of CBS 5 Arizona a sideline routine, getting interviewed and preforming on live TV.
We even got to do the traffic report! You can imagine there is some traffic with all the events going on in AZ.
We then met the rest of the cheerleaders for breakfast at 7:30. All of us showed up in our new PRO Bowl sweat suits that we were given the night before.
The director of the PBC pulled some of the women up to share their personal life story. It is so amazing to see so many different backgrounds of women come together and join as a team because of their love for preforming.
After breakfast we headed to Glendale for practice at the side field. We set our formations for our pre game routine, player introductions and tunnel, and the National Anthem. We then went through our sideline routines, and where able to get more time dancing with our new line. It was so much fun!
It was so awesome to see the stadium where we will be dancing again next week! Can't wait! After a long practice. We headed back to the hotel for dinner and ice pack for sore muscles! Having a blast 12s! Can't wait until you get here!
Day 2: Poster Photoshoot
Hey 12s, it was a packed day that started bright and early with a 7:30 am breakfast call in full game uniform and makeup. We were able to learn more about the E2k staff and have them share some of their inspiring stories as dancers and performers.
We were then taken to the Buttes in Tempe where we shot our 2015 Pro Bowl Cheerleader poster. As we were scaling the mountain we had to watch out for the jumping cactus, that if you got too close to it, they would jump out at you and attached to you. I watched it happened to one of our security guards it was crazy.
The photographer placed me at the highest point on the mountain right in the center, not sure if it was on purpose, but I thought it was pretty symbolic of us being Super Bowl champions. To say that the highest point on the mountain was cold and windy, is an understatement.
I'm a pretty tough girl, but it was REALLY windy to the point where I almost fell down. The Raiders and Rams cheerleaders were standing by me and we had a little laugh as we shivered.
We then shot our pro bowl entrance videos that they will use to introduce us on Sunday. I had a special tag that I go to add onto my clip. " Hi, I'm Melissa, from the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks". Then I went and shot with Sports Illustrated, where I did some fun photos in my signature Sea Gal Costume.
After a short lunch, we had a 5 hour practice, reviewing the routines that we had learned via video before we arrived and our pre-game introduction dance. Everyone came dressed in their teams practice attire and I was able to sport my 12s jersey that was turned into a costume. It was a grueling practice, but still a ton of fun.
We then had our Pro Bowl Cheerleader draft. I was drafted to the Irvin squad and have Rams, Jets, Titans, Raiders, and Texans on my squad. It was fun to run the dances together and learn how to blend and dance as a team together. My squad all went out for dinner to bond and dance a little more. Afterwards we headed to bed early for a 3:30 am wake up call!
Day 1: Arrival
I left Sea-Tac bright and early Wednesday morning and was wearing my hawk gear loud and proud with my Super Bowl 48 necklace loud and proud. Sat next to some 12s hat were still talking about the excitement around the NFC championship and the unbelievable game. Many 12s I met were headed to Arizona for the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl!
Arrived in Phoenix by 1pm and was great with a warm smile in baggage claim by the Carolina Panthers girl, Lindsey. Lindsey and I had never met but we both know former Sea Gal Brandy and both happened to attend Oregon State University, Go Beavs!
We then met in the van, Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader, Alicia and Miami Dolphins cheerleader, Melissa….also! Arriving to our beautiful hotel we were greeted by more smiling faces of some of the wonderful groups of the Pro Bowl Cheerleaders.
Everyone was so excited to finally meet each other as we had been talking via text and email for weeks. We settled into our hotel room where I got to find out my roommate. I was so excited to find out it was Melissa from Miami.
In the early evening we were welcomed by the E2k staff who took us in shuttles to the Biltomore design by Frank Lloyd Wright. While walking into the hotel said a casual " hi" to Tony Romo! We then ate an amazing dinner by the fire and introduced ourselves to the group and I got to know the Raideriette, Texans, Dolphins, and Cardinals girl better. It was so fun exchanging stories and talking about our great organizations. We all were ready to go to bed pretty early as we anticipated an early practice the next day.
