It is just moments before halftime during a high-stakes Monday Night Football matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Standing in the darkened concrete tunnel, comedian Atsuko Okatsuka is actively hyping herself up, breathing deeply to calm her nerves.
In less than a minute, the acclaimed comedian, actress, and native Angeleno will strut onto the bright, sprawling field to perform a synchronized dance routine alongside the professional Los Angeles Rams cheerleaders. While Okatsuka hides behind a wide, radiant smile as she marks her steps and rehearses her counts in the shadows, she would later readily admit to being "super nervous" about the endeavor. After all, though her time in the spotlight will last for roughly 45 seconds, it has been nearly two decades since she last shook a pair of pompoms.
Fortunately for the comedian, when the music swells and she cartwheels gracefully into the center of the formation, pure muscle memory takes over. Her formative cheerleading skills from Venice High School—where she was proudly voted “Most Spirited”—come rushing back instantly. A sold-out stadium crowd roars with approval as the NFL’s newest honorary cheerleader grooves effortlessly to the high-tempo, pulsating beat of Katseye’s track “Animal.” Then, in what feels like the blink of an eye, her moment in the athletic sun concludes. As the music cuts off, Okatsuka strikes a final, confident pose, having thoroughly crushed the routine, before jogging back toward the safety of the tunnel alongside the rest of her temporary squad.
Stopping briefly in the corridor to share her immediate, unfiltered reaction, Okatsuka cracks a quintessential joke to Variety: “I’m so old.”
A few minutes later, she settles comfortably into a lounge chair within the stadium’s green room to reflect on the historic milestone of becoming the NFL’s inaugural Celebrity Guest Cheerleader.
“The middle part I crushed,” Okatsuka says, beaming with genuine pride and lingering adrenaline. “It was so fun. It takes me back to performing good spirits through dance. I haven’t done that in a minute.”
Expanding Fan Engagement Through Cultural Crossovers
The NFL’s Celebrity Guest Cheerleader initiative represents the latest innovative extension of the league’s highly successful “Celebrity Guest” outreach series. The broader program originally launched the previous year, inviting prominent professional athletes, acclaimed actors, and celebrated musicians—including legendary names like Jerry Rice, Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Method Man, Common, Joel McHale, Ken Griffey Jr., Benson Boone, and Marshawn Lynch—to work the sidelines as official game-day photographers.
According to league executives, these carefully curated activations are designed to merge professional football with broader entertainment spheres.
“Our approach to fan engagement is rooted in finding new ways to bring the NFL into the broader cultural conversation, connecting audiences to the game through the voices, experiences, and stories that resonate with them,” says Rob Santini, the NFL’s Vice President of Global Culture, Social, and Entertainment.
“The Celebrity Guest programs are a natural evolution of that strategy: creating opportunities for entertainers and cultural voices to experience the NFL in unexpected ways,” Santini explains, discussing the vision behind the initiative. “We couldn’t have asked for better partners than Atsuko and the Los Angeles Rams to bring this to life.”
From a Stand-Up Comedy Bit to SoFi Stadium
The creative spark that ultimately led to Okatsuka joining the Rams cheer squad originated from a popular, widely discussed bit in her 2025 Hulu stand-up comedy special, “Father.” In the routine, Okatsuka jokes about how former cheerleaders like herself are effectively hiding in plain sight within society. She then performs a comedic “roll call” to actively call them out among her live audience members, shouting “Ready?” into the microphone while the crowd enthusiastically echoes back, “OK!” The bit continues by dissecting the unique hype-woman mindset that cheerleaders must maintain, pumping up teams with relentless optimism even when the outcome of the game is entirely uncertain, and how that forced positivity uniquely manifests in everyday life.
For the Los Angeles Rams franchise, the opportunity to collaborate with the comedian felt like an organic extension of their digital and cultural marketing strategies.
“We’re always looking for ways to bring the Rams brand to the intersection of sports and culture,” adds Kurt Gies, the director of social media and influencers for the Los Angeles Rams. “When the NFL introduced us to Atsuko, we knew it would be a great fit, particularly given her roots in Los Angeles and her background as a former cheerleader.”
The partnership proved to be an immediate viral sensation. An initial announcement posted to the Rams’ official Instagram account regarding Okatsuka’s upcoming performance generated more than 1 million views within a remarkably short window. Ultimately, her actual game-day performance became one of the franchise’s best-performing pieces of content for the entire season, racking up more than 4 million views and crossing 200,000 total engagements across social media platforms.
“The response reinforced the power of blending sports and culture to connect with new audiences,” Gies notes, highlighting the massive digital reach of the crossover event.
Rigorous Training and a Custom Game-Day Uniform
Preparing for a professional NFL dance routine was no small feat, even for someone with a background in high school spirit squads. To get ready for the big night, Okatsuka meticulously studied the choreography at home before attending in-person sessions to run through the complex routine alongside the regular Rams cheerleaders during their weekly rehearsals.
“Stand-up comedy is so different. So, I was like prepping like I’m going to the Olympics or something,” she recalls of the intense preparation process. “Once I was there, they were so patient with me. They’re cheerleaders—they’re really good at making you feel good. Not to a fault, but they kept going, ‘You’re doing good,’ and then you start to believe it.”
To complete her transformation into an NFL cheerleader, the Rams organization surprised Okatsuka by gifting her a fully customized, professional uniform tailored specifically for her game-day appearance.
“My stylist and I thought about how it might cut for me to have shoulders, kind of like the players,” Okatsuka explains, laughing as she recalls discussing design modifications to ensure she felt comfortable relative to her much younger squadmates. Initially hesitant about the traditional cut of professional sideline attire, she humorously requested extra coverage. “I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think I could wear that,’ she says, laughing. ‘Can I be covered neck down?’”
While Okatsuka gets to keep the customized uniform as a treasured keepsake from the historic night, she admits she is still figuring out where she might possibly wear it next. She jokingly dismisses the idea of wearing it during her upcoming comedy special, which is scheduled to be filmed at the United Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. “I’ll wear it before, backstage,” she quips.
With the success of the inaugural Celebrity Guest Cheerleader activation in the books, the NFL plans to continue the initiative, with the next guest scheduled to take the field during upcoming league holiday games. As for who should follow in her footsteps, Okatsuka already has a few enthusiastic suggestions ready.
“Shapel Lacey is a stand-up comedian, and he was a competitive cheerleader. It’d be cool to normalize having guys do it. Maybe one of the Backstreet Boys—AJ McLean,” Okatsuka suggests. “Lil Jon—he was a lot of people’s first cheerleader. At least music-wise, all he does is positive affirmations, so it’d be cool to see him perform with NFL cheerleaders.”
