Friends of the benched cheerer, Courtney Lenz, have started an online petition to get her to New Orleans. It claims the Ravens have done an "injustice." The decision to keep her in Baltimore was an insult to healthy body image, the petition says.
It has more than 23,000 signatures and 5,000 Facebook likes.
Lenz, 23, has been on the Ravens sideline for five seasons. She has been featured in team calendars and appeared at events on behalf of the team. Though NFL rules dictate only 32 of the Ravens' 60 cheerleaders can attend Sunday's game, Lenz figured she'd make the cut because of her seniority with the team. All women with more than three years experience are on the Super Bowl roster.
Why not Lenz? She thinks it's because she gained 1.4 pounds during the season. She has told various news outlets that she added the weight to her usual 124-pound frame. The organization wanted her to get down to 120 pounds, she says.
