Former Buffalo Bills Cheerleader Reveals 9 Shocking Rules She Had to Follow Before Squad Was Disbanded (Exclusive)

Their pom poms have been laid to rest, but their team spirit is still alive.

The Buffalo Bills will continue their quest to the Super Bowl in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, Jan. 26 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Their fans, the "Bills Mafia" will be there in support, but there's one group who will noticeably be absent: Bills Cheerleaders.

In fact, the cheer team — professionally known as the Buffalo Jills — hasn't been present on the football sideline since 2014 due to a lawsuit filed by five former cheerleaders against the organization in May of that year, which ultimately led to the suspension of squad operations.

The case against the Bills claimed that the Buffalo Jills were wrongly classified as independent contractors and were subjected to policies that violated the state minimum wage laws and other workplace rules, per ESPN. Cumulus Media (then Citadel Broadcasting Company) was also sued.

In March 2022, the eight-year-long lawsuit was settled. Cumulus and the Bills resolved all outstanding claims with the 50-plus cheerleaders represented in the suit. Cumulus owed $4 million, while the team agreed to pay $3.5 million.

Related: NFL Cheerleader Sisters from Opposing Teams Compare Biggest Rules They Must Follow, from Early Call Times to Makeup Requirements

Despite the settlement, the Buffalo Jills never returned to the often snow-covered sidelines and the Bills have remained without a cheer team ever since. However, the Buffalo Jills NFL Cheerleaders Alumni Association stands strong and continues its traditions with pride.

Shana Klimeczko, who was a Buffalo Jill for the NFL's 2005-2006 season and is a current member of the Alumni Association, spoke with PEOPLE exclusively about her experiences as a cheerleader for the team. For the Buffalo native, being a cheerleader for the Bills was "a dream come true."

The former Jill, who says she was not involved in the lawsuit that came nearly a decade after her time on the squad, also tells PEOPLE the surprising rules she had to follow on the team. Additionally, she shed light on why "you don't do it for the money" and "can't expect to become rich off of doing it."

Although Klimeczko described the tryouts as "intense," she makes clear that she'd "1,000 billion percent" do it again. "That was something I always dreamt of," she says, adding, "I'm still definitely really proud."

Read on for the rules you didn't know the Buffalo Bills Cheerleaders had to follow before it was disbanded in 2014.

Tryouts were 'intense' and had multiple rounds

While Klimeczko made the Buffalo Jills squad the first time she tried out, landing a spot on the approximate 35-member cheer team is not an easy feat.

In fact, the former cheerleader describes the Buffalo Jills tryout process as "pretty intense." Nailing the choreography is one factor, but the cheer supervisors looked at the whole package.

"You have to be fit, right? So they judge you on the way you look in your uniform," Klimeczko explains. "You wear shorts and a sports bra, and you are judged on obviously the way you perform, but not just that, like your smile and your hair and your body."

The tryout process was lengthy, too. "It goes on for a couple weeks," Klimeczko says. "Because they interview you as well. You have to be well-spoken, too, because we do appearances," she shares, referencing trips to car dealerships and fundraising responsibilities for charities.

Despite the intensity, Klimeczko makes clear of those in charge: "They weren't really mean to us." She adds, "At the end of the day, if you just put in the work, it's worth it."

Hair always had to be down

While uniforms were unsurprisingly the same across the squad, their 'do had to be too. "You always had to have your hair down and full and not mangled," Klimeczko says. Hair color didn't matter though, as she said they weren't required to dye their locks a specific hue when she was a Buffalo Jill.

Specific makeup and nail color had to be worn

In addition to the specific hairstyle, Buffalo Jills had to wear the same glam.

"You actually had to have correct nail color as well as lipstick — and if you did not have the right lipstick or nail color, you were not allowed to be at the game that day or you'd be benched," Klimeczko shares, noting that they'd often have people do their glam.

The lipstick had to be red, she says, adding, "and the nails had to be pink, french or clear." She adds they also "always had you have to wear fake eyelashes for sure."

"I mean, I still wear 'em. I like fake eyelashes. I think they look great," she continues.

The red lipstick, though, is what she said "mattered the most" when it came to the glam. She notes that face makeup was mainly used to "cover up," pointing out that it was "nothing heavy."

Related: Fired NFL Cheerleader Opens Up About Alleged Gender Discrimination, Hopes She 'Empowers Other Women'

Fake or natural tans were required

Although Buffalo is synonymous with its brutally cold winters, the Buffalo Jills had to look sun-kissed. "We had to be tan," Klimeczko reveals. "Spray tan or tanning. I did both," she explains.

Bodies had to be in tip-top shape

Their oftentimes acrobatic routines require peak physical fitness, so Klimeczko said physiques had to match. "Listen, you have to make sure that everything is tucked in and you also have to be fit. That's what you sign up for," she says.

"You can't be, I don't know, things hanging out of you when you're jumping and things like that," the former Buffalo Jill explains when asked about reports that cheerleaders had to do checks if "flesh jiggled" while doing jumping jacks.

"You're judged on your appearance," she adds. "That's what you do. And you're judged on the way you look, and you're judged on making sure your uniform fits properly... So that's what you go into."

Klimeczko to this day prioritizes her health and fitness, working as a Pilates manager at Equinox in California. "Things lead to do different things in life," she says looking back.

Cheerleaders weren't allowed to mingle with NFL players

Don't picture a cinematic high school love story where the football player falls in love with the cheerleader. According to Klimeczko, the Buffalo Jills "were strict when it came to not intermingling with other players" in the NFL at the time.

Klimeczko recalled a time she and the squad were shooting their calendar cover in Miami and were hanging out at a bar. "NFL players from another team walked in the bar and I was talking to them and I found out afterwards that they were players. The entire squad, we all had to leave," she says.

"It's called, 'You can't fraternize with the player,'" the former cheerleader explains. "And I think it makes sense because you don't want the players distracted. If you're dating a player on the team, they can't be distracted that you're on the sidelines."

Restaurants and bars, specifically, were a bit "more strict" when it came to that rule. "We weren't allowed to be anywhere with the other players," Klimeczko says. "When we weren't cheering, it was strict."

Related: 10 Rules Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Have to Follow (Even Before They Make the Team!)

Dress codes had to be followed

Buffalo Jills had to follow a dress code when they weren't in uniform and had outside appearances away from the game. "They told us what to wear for events," Klimeczko says.

"We would either wear our uniform, which we had a couple different uniforms, and then you would wear business casual for corporate events," she adds.

Hand and foot warmers were allowed

Did we mention Buffalo gets really cold? Now, imagine the tiny crop tops and skirts the Buffalo Jills had to wear as their uniform. "It is freezing cold, but you wear these heat warmers in your hands and your gloves and then in your boots too," Klimeczko makes clear.

"You're so busy and you're running around, you just get used to it," she says. "And then if you're doing an appearance or anything like that, you take turns and they bring you inside to get you warm."

Klimeczko also mentioned that they would practice in an enclosed facility. "We practice in the dome," she says. "It's where the Bills actually do their practice as well. There's a closed dome that we would be in, so we would be in there for several times a week."

Cheerleaders were allowed to have other jobs

Buffalo Jills were allowed to have full-time jobs because their gig on the squad surely wasn't.

"You get paid for appearances," Klimeczko makes clear. "I was lucky enough to be the calendar cover, so I got paid $5 per calendar that you sold. And then for game day, it's $75 for the three hours. That's what it was then," she recalls of her 2005-2006 season.

"So the team, everything that we did whenever we had events and things that we got paid for came from Citadel," she explains. "All the events, and if I went to a car dealership or whatever it was to do promotions, then that's how we would get paid from that."

For Klimeczko, cheering as a Buffalo Jill wasn't about the pay. "You don't do it for the money," she says, before referencing the 2014 lawsuit and noting that "everybody goes into it with different reasons."

"You don't go into it to make money," she reemphasizes. "That's not why you're a cheerleader for the NFL... It's a dream come true, right? You can't expect to become rich off of doing it. You're not a Buffalo Bill."

"What you get from being a Buffalo Jill is the opportunity to be in the public eye," continues Klimeczko. "And you work with the Junior Jills... they're so cute and they look at you like a role model. And you do charity work, and it's a really great thing to groom you for things later in life."

She adds, "You are like a local celebrity. I mean... I still sign autographs here in Newport."

Read the original article on People