Dallas Cowboys cheerleader with alopecia performs without wig in now-viral video
Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Armani Latimer performed without a wig as she’s opening up about her alopecia diagnosis.
The moment was captured in an Instagram video shared by the team, Latimer and a Cowboys community page on Dec. 9. Latimer has alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.
“Confidence takes center stage for Alopecia Awareness 💙,” the caption reads.
“You got this, Mani,” a woman can be heard saying as the clip begins with Latimer in her uniform, surrounded by her fellow cheerleaders.
She then starts walking out to the field.
“So proud of that you’re doing this and you’re just representing a lot of little girls out there and they’re going to be looking at you in awe at your strength, knowing that they are going to feel so beautiful after this because of what you’re doing today,” the voiceover continues.
The clip then shifts to show Latimer performing with the cheerleaders on the field.
Latimer’s teammates applauded her in the comments section.
“Thank you for sharing this piece of yourself with the world. The strength you have is so inspiring ❤️,” fellow Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Marissa Phillips wrote
“I will cry every time I watch this ❤️ Armani you are truly my idol in every single way,” another teammate, Charly Barby, gushed. “You are embody everything a leader should be, have truly become my best friend, and my rock!! I’m so excited that the world gets to see how inspiring and amazing you are!!!!”
Latimer opened up about her condition in an essay for Women’s Health published in December, revealing she was diagnosed with it when she was 12. She also said cheering became a challenge.
“My alopecia was hard to navigate during my early cheering days,” she wrote. “It was such a tumultuous time that I was only able to give about 50 percent of my effort. Some people picked up on the fact that I was more withdrawn and not my bubbly self, and having teammates that I could sit and cry with about what I was going through was healing.”
She also wrote that she became interested at the beginning of this NFL season in the possibility of cheering without a wig, eventually deciding to do so during the team’s My Cause My Boots “Monday Night Football” game on Dec. 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“At first, I was a bit scared to commit to it because doing a photoshoot or taking a video of yourself and posting it on social media is not in real time,” she wrote.
“Knowing that the game would be live in front of over 80 thousand people and I may end up on TV is a bit intimidating. But I’m reminding myself that I’ll be out there dancing with my best friends, and my family will be there as well. I know that it’ll be an impactful moment for whoever it touches.”
In September, Latimer shared an Instagram post in honor of Alopecia Awareness Month, with a black-and-white photo of herself without a wig.
