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Cheering in the Super Bowl is serious business. Ask this cancer researcher

Chelsea Pe Benito studied psychology and captained Northeastern’s dance team en route to a career in clinical research management. On Sunday, she and her fellow Eagles cheerleaders will dance on their biggest stage yet. 

Chelsea Pe Benito with her head tilted back, confetti falling around her.
Northeastern graduate and Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader Chelsea Pe Benito celebrates the Eagle’s win in the NFC Championship Game on Jan. 26. Courtesy Photo

Editor’s Note: This story was published in February 2024 and has been updated to include information on the Eagles’ trip to Super Bowl LIX. 

Chelsea Pe Benito always knew she would be a dancer. But in her mind, it didn’t look quite like this.

Pe Benito trained for 15 years as a ballerina growing up in central New Jersey, studying at the prestigious Princeton Ballet School through high school, dancing in standards like “Swan Lake” and even touring in a production of “The Nutcracker” around the tri-state area. “It was all tutus and pointe shoes,” she says. “I was in love with ballet.”

Before too long, she would indeed be dancing professionally — but in sneakers and heeled boots.

The 2019 graduate of Northeastern University is in her second season as an NFL cheerleader for the Philadelphia Eagles. The classical suites and elongated, legato movements of her youth have been replaced with screaming football fans, pom poms and whip-like choreography designed to be seen in the nosebleed seats.  

“I tear every time up waiting in the tunnel line to go onto the field,” Pe Benito says. “You can quite literally feel the ground shaking. There’s no better feeling.”

On Sunday, she’ll be cheering on the Eagles as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans. It’s arguably the biggest stage possible for any professional dancer, with 83,000 fans in the stands and an anticipated 124 million people watching on TV.

“I’m looking forward to showing off all the hard work the squad has put in this season,” Pe Benito says. “Eagles home games are all about the fans who bleed green, so you’re surrounded by Philly’s passionate, die-hard supporters.  At the Super Bowl, the crowd is a bit more mixed, but that just means us cheerleaders will be bringing the energy and Philly fans will show up even louder.”

Pe Benito’s road to pro cheerleading ran straight through Northeastern. Though initially attracted to the university because of the co-op program, she joined the dance team her sophomore year and eventually became captain, traveling to national competitions and choreography conventions while balancing a full academic workload.

“I tear every time up waiting in the tunnel line to go onto the field. You can quite literally feel the ground shaking. There’s no better feeling.”

Chelsea Pe Benito, a Northeastern graduate and Philadelphia Eagles cheerleader

That demanding schedule proved an effective training camp for her future. Cheering for the Eagles involves hours of evening practices, home game Sundays, and a packed calendar of community appearances around Philadelphia — in addition to her day job as an oncology study manager for pharmaceutical giant Merck.

“My time at Northeastern really prepared me for what I’m doing now,” Pe Benito says. “Because if you think about it, I was either in classes or on co-op. And then in the evenings, I would have dance team practices late, and we’d also [perform at] games. So this mimics a routine that I’m used to and enjoy very much.”

Tchaikovsky to Black Eyed Peas

Pe Benito grew up in East Brunswick, a New Jersey town that represents contested NFL territory among Eagles, Jets and Giants fandoms. “I’m an hour from New York and an hour from Philly, so in my family it’s pretty split,” she laughs. Even her NFL cheer career thus far reflects that: Prior to joining the Eagles squad, Pe Benito was a rookie member of the New York Jets Flight Crew for the 2021-2022 season.

She had been a complete newbie to dance teams just a few years before. After spending her freshman year getting acclimated to campus life, she was ready to get back to dancing her sophomore year, at least recreationally. Northeastern, however, had no ballet program. “I would sometimes take drop-in classes at Boston Ballet, but as a college student, I didn’t have the money to take class nearly as much as I used to growing up,” she says. In search of a more accessible option, she saw a Facebook ad for Northeastern Dance Team auditions and signed up.

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