Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Kellerman was thrust into the spotlight Thursday when she was accidentally tackled on the sideline by tight end Jason Witten during the team’s game vs. the Miami Dolphins.
In fact, later that day, she had more than tripled her Twitter followers — to more than 1,000 — as a result of the incident, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reported. [Watch the video of her getting knocked down by Witten here.]
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On Friday morning, she tweeted twice about the knockdown, writing: “I’m not the best at Jason Witten trust falls ;)” and “Not hurtin’ today, like some of y’all thought I would be! Our TE isn’t as tough as he looks… That or I’m WAY tougher than I look. ;)”
But it seems the Dallas Cowboys organization didn’t approve of the messages. According to Rovell, Kellerman — a student who is in her fourth year with the team — was forced to delete her account by the NFL franchise.
“Shame on the Cowboys for pulling cheerleader @MelissaRae off Twitter,” he tweeted from his own account. “Not allowing these girls to capitalize is criminal.”
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He also claims that the Cowboys didn’t allow interviews with Kellerman afterward.
“If Cowboys don’t trust the cheerleaders to speak for themselves, why do they even interview them for the squad?” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Chase points out the Cowboy cheerleaders do get plenty of chances to “speak for themselves” in CMT’s Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, a long-running reality show spotlighting the audition process. Like Rovell, he slammed the Cowboys for their move.
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“It’s alright when the team controls the message but not when a cheerleader begins to get a following and has the stage to herself?” he wrote. “This should have been a win-win for everyone involved. Witten looked chivalrous when he helped up Kellerman, she became endearing with her laughter and positive attitude. Both the franchise and the cheerleaders looked good after this. Now, only Kellerman does.”
UPDATE: A spokesperson for the team told THR that The Cowboys has nothing to do with Kellerman’s decision to close her Twitter account.
