Who is Kelli Finglass from Netflix’s ‘America’s sweethearts’?

The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders over the decades have gone from pretty faces on the field to an icon - an entity all on its own that holds elite status with beautiful, talented dancers who uphold the image of the DCC. There is a reason why the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader is the most recognizable of all the NFL cheerleaders, and much of that has to do with the work of DCC director Kelli Finglass.

Meet DCC director Kelli Finglass

Kelli Finglass was a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader herself from 1984 to 1989. The same year that Finglass left the squad, Jerry Jones took over as owner of the Dallas Cowboys and hired Finglass to be the assistant director of the DCC. She held that position until 1990 before moving to sales and promotions and then getting promoted to director of the cheerleaders in 1991. She’s held that position ever since.

Finglass studied modern dance at TCU and got her bachelor’s degree in international marketing from UNT. She also acts as a business manager for the DCC and was given the task of taking the squad from being a financial burden to a financial profit. According to Charlotte Jones, Jerry Jones’ daughter and DCC’s chief brand officer, the squad was in “financial disarray” when Finglass took over. Finglass fixed that right away - with sponsorships, swimsuit calendars, merchandising, and being a part of CMT’s reality show “Making the Team”, Mattel’s DCC Barbie, movies, and carefully tracking every penny spent. The DCC over time, became the iconic brand that we know today, much thanks to Finglass.

It’s Finglass, along with head choreographer Judy Trammell who are the main people responsible for whittling down the hundreds of applicants to the DCC to the final 36. In Netflix’s series “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders”, viewers get a behind-the-scenes look at how the cheerleaders are judged and the arduous process and intense training it takes to be chosen as one of the elites.

Finglass is also responsible for creating different competitions held by the DCC, including the DCC Dance & Drill Team Competitions, Camp DCC, Cheers for Years, and Cheers for Fitness. She also started DCC Productions, a special events production company that creates halftime performances for the Dallas Cowboys as well as the International Hockey League and the NCAA.

As for her personal life, Finglass is married to Joel Finglass and the couple has been together since 1996. They have one son, Ryan, and a daughter, Samantha. They currently live in Coppell, Texas.