Michelle Siemienowski fell to the ground after getting hit, but quickly stood back up as fellow cheerleaders and team staff came to her aid
One Dallas Cowboys cheerleader was left reeling after being hit with a football launched by the team’s kicker.
In a video captured during a broadcast of the Cowboys’ game against the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Jan. 5, cheerleader Michelle Siemienowski could be seen getting hit in the back of the head by a ball kicked by Brandon Aubrey as she danced on the sidelines.
Siemienowski then fell to the ground, and her fellow cheerleaders, staffers on the sidelines and even Commanders punter Tress Way come to her aid, but Siemienowski immediately stood back up.
A moment later, Siemienowski could be seen sitting down with a drink of water, smiling and nodding to her teammates, despite a few tears in her eyes.
Shoutout to this #DallasCowboys Cheerleader for taking the hit like a champ 💪 pic.twitter.com/jluDhATMku
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 5, 2025
Commentators on Fox’s broadcast shared their sympathy, saying “ouch” as footage replayed of Siemienowski getting hit with the ball.
“Hopefully alright,” one commentator said. “At least she’s smiling. Those k-balls [kicking balls] are no joke!”
After the game — which the Commanders won, 23-19 — the rookie cheerleader shared in a series of Instagram posts that she was doing okay after the hard hit.
“I’m alright everyone!” she wrote next to a video of the incident, joking, “Claiming the motto: cry now, laugh later!”
The kick incurred a penalty for going out of bounds, a rare miss for Aubrey, per CBS Sports. The majority of his kicks have been accurate this season, and he scored six points in the first two quarters with two field goals against the Commanders on Sunday.
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The Cowboys’ loss marked the end of a difficult season for the Dallas team, who finished with a record of 7-10.
Outside of football, 2024 marked a busy year for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (DCC), following the release of their seven-part Netflix docuseries, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. The series followed DCC director Kelli Finglass and choreographer Judy Trammell as they auditioned new members during tryouts, making cuts to the roster throughout training camp.
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America’s Sweethearts then followed cheerleaders including Reece Weaver, Jada McLean and Caroline Sundvold and others as they navigated their routines — including the famous “Thunderstruck” number.
Ahead of the series’ Netflix premiere, Finglass told PEOPLE, “The whole show has new access, and you learn things about the cheerleaders that even we didn’t know as their coaches.”
She added, “It’s beautiful and it’s vulnerable and I think it’ll be very insightful for fans. And that was the right place for this type of storytelling to be.”
Netflix announced in November that the series will return for a second season, saying in a statement that it will “follow the 2024-25 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad from start to finish — kicking off at auditions and training camp and continuing all the way through the NFL season.”
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America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is currently streaming on Netflix.
