The Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders were pretty in pink on Sunday afternoon to raise awareness for breast cancer and honor survivors as the Falcons played the Bears in the Georgia Dome.
On Sunday, 10 of the 36 Atlanta Falcons Cheerleaders will get on a plane in the early evening and fly from Atlanta to the United Kingdom, with the remainder of the team joining four days later. Once the group deplanes Monday morning, they will head straight from the airport to an appearance, the first of many in the days leading up to the game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Detroit Lions at Wembley Stadium.
Although the women are excited to experience sights and sounds of London, as well as embrace the British people and their culture, they have a job to do first and foremost — promote the Falcons, and the NFL, throughout the city.
"They chose 10 of us girls; we'll be in two groups of five," said fifth-year member Naiz B. "Basically we'll go around London, pretty much everywhere out in the community, advocating the Falcons."
In 2007, the NFL started its International Series in hopes of gaining American football fans across the UK and the rest of Europe, to see where the interest was in regards to establishing a European league. The NFL hopes to form a London-based team within the next five to 10 years, which would mean more games being played across the pond, as the NFC and AFC compete with the newest member of the league.
Armed with a number of routines and new music, these ladies are ready for the opportunity to cheer on their favorite team and promote the NFL in hopes of growing interest across the UK.
"I think it would be really fun to incorporate more games over there, with them coming over here and creating that friendly competitive spirit that we all have," Naiz said. "A Super Bowl would be really huge if it was between a London team and an American team."