Panthers fire cheerleaders accused of sex

sfft_2108 · #1 11-08-2005, 02:34 PM

Thomas, Keathley were arrested, charged after incident in restroom

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Of
Carolina Panthers cheerleaders, Renee Thomas, left, and Angela Keathley, shown in these Hillsborough County, Fla., Sheriff's Office booking photos.

[url]http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/051107/051107_pantherscheer_hmed_10a.h2.jpg[/url]

Updated: 9:05 a.m. ET Nov. 8, 2005
TAMPA, Fla. - North Carolina’s pro football team got rid of two cheerleaders who were arrested at a bar where witnesses told police the women were having sex with each other in a restroom stall.

Renee Thomas, 20, of Pittsboro, N.C., and Angela Keathley, 26, of Belmont, N.C., were fired Monday for violating a signed code that bans conduct embarrassing to the team or organization, Carolina Panthers spokesman Charlie Dayton said.

The women were not in town to perform at Sunday’s game between the Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thomas was charged with battery for allegedly striking a bar patron when she was leaving the restroom. She was released from the Hillsborough County Jail on $500 bail before police learned she had given them a driver’s license belonging to another Panthers cheerleader not in Tampa.

Detectives were trying to determine how Thomas got the driver’s license of a third cheerleader.

Thomas was charged Monday with giving a false name and causing harm to another — a third-degree felony punishable by probation or a jail term of one to five years, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.

Keathley was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, and was released on $750 bail. The women could not be reached for comment Monday.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

**BryanWood** · #2 11-08-2005, 02:50 PM

There were no charges filed for this case in terms of sexual conduct. It was a rumor started and caught like wildfire. There was a fight over lines waiting for the bathroom.

Coaster Freak · #3 11-08-2005, 02:52 PM

I find this one very funny.....it only got into the media because of the affiliation with the NFL. Nothing really very shocking about the occurance as I'm sure this isn't the first time its happened. This is just the first time (from what I can recall) that anyone linked to a NFL team was involved.

Lancelot · #4 11-08-2005, 05:06 PM

That's hot.

RaptorXLC · #5 11-08-2005, 06:43 PM

holy crap this is hot

Carowinds 73-03 · #6 11-08-2005, 06:58 PM

I thought it was a pretty funny story. Wish i could have been there to see that woman get hit.

coasterlove · #7 11-08-2005, 11:01 PM

Wow, talk about hypocrisy in action. A couple cheerleaders who are easily replacable are fired for a relatively minor brawl.

Players who aren't as easily replaced are generally just suspended or fined and usually not even that sometimes. Players get caught with weapons, drugs, cheat on or beat their wives, get into much bigger fights or even involved in murder cases and that's just overlooked in many cases but a small brawl by some cheerleaders isn't.

A double standard, wouldn't you agree?

Carowinds 73-03 · #8 11-09-2005, 05:39 AM

I agree. Fireing was way too harsh imo. A small suspension would have been more fitting.

Coaster Freak · #9 11-09-2005, 07:41 AM

There happens to be a morals clause in the contracts of these cheerleaders. A similar situation happened with the Toronto Raptors when they found out that one of their cheerleaders had her own nude photo site and she was using a different name and she got fired very quickly.

The only reason why the players get away with it is because they have a union behind them regardless of the stupidity of their actions....it doens't make them any better....they are just better protected.

As for the cheerleaders, it really wasn't the sex that got them into the trouble, it was their drunkeness that got them.

**Brian F** · #10 11-09-2005, 09:21 AM

Just give them the number of the guy who does the "Girls Gone Wild" videos. I'm sure he can find work for them. I'm betting they could even get Snoop back for that episode, fo shizzle.

Coaster Freak · #11 11-09-2005, 10:37 AM

Howard Stern jokingly offered the girls a job for his new Sirius radio show as ambassadors.

coasterlove · #12 11-09-2005, 12:46 PM

[QUOTE=Coaster Freak]There happens to be a morals clause in the contracts of these cheerleaders. A similar situation happened with the Toronto Raptors when they found out that one of their cheerleaders had her own nude photo site and she was using a different name and she got fired very quickly.

The only reason why the players get away with it is because they have a union behind them regardless of the stupidity of their actions....it doens't make them any better....they are just better protected.
[/QUOTE]

It doesn't matter because that's not the point. They've made it a bigger story than it would've ever been by firing them. It's also ridiculous to talk about a morals clause when the whole point of a cheerleader is sex appeal plain and simple. Cheerleading at the grade school, high school and perhaps at the college level may actually be about team spirit and the sport. At the pro level, it's sex appeal. Watch any game and as they go to commercial break, it focuses on their tits and or ass (to my delight) so this event would just add to that sex appeal in my opinion.

Last I just think it's silly for a team to worry about what their cheerleaders do when what their players do are far worse. And the union has nothing to do with it! As seen with the Eagles and Terrel Owens, a team still have leverage and can act accordingly if they choose to do so. It's just that most teams don't have the integrity or [u]morals[/u] to do anything about it when a player gets into trouble. And that's the truth.

Lancelot · #13 11-09-2005, 02:42 PM

the only real crime here is the lack of video proof..

Coaster Freak · #14 11-09-2005, 03:50 PM

[QUOTE=coasterlove]It doesn't matter because that's not the point. They've made it a bigger story than it would've ever been by firing them. It's also ridiculous to talk about a morals clause when the whole point of a cheerleader is sex appeal plain and simple. Cheerleading at the grade school, high school and perhaps at the college level may actually be about team spirit and the sport. At the pro level, it's sex appeal. Watch any game and as they go to commercial break, it focuses on their tits and or ass (to my delight) so this event would just add to that sex appeal in my opinion.[/QUOTE]

I never questioned the sex appeal associated with cheerleading. All I said is that morals clauses exist with regards to the extra curricular activities of said cheerleaders. While I agree that it is totally hypocritical of the sports world, it is the media that will create the hailstorm of crap if the teams don't react the way they think they should (ie: firing/discipline).

coasterlove · #15 11-10-2005, 01:13 AM

But see, I honestly don't think it would have been that big deal. On top of it, the media has more important thing to focus on rather than a team that didn't respond by firing their cheerleaders for poor behavior on their own time. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if the media would've let it slip to the back of the paper and it would've been nothing but a blurb on the sports talk stations. Now that they were fired, it became a story and drew a lot more attention that it would have.