Jason Witten Cheerleader: Why Collision Is Best Highlight of His Season

It’s been a strange year for tight ends getting mixed up with Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.

First, we had Buffalo’s David Nelson scoring his team’s lone TD in a loss in Dallas and celebrating with girlfriend (and Dallas cheerleader) Kelsi Reich. Now, the Cowboys’ own TE, Jason Witten, has put another cheerleader in the spotlight.

In yesterday’s 20-19 win over Miami, Witten caught a third-down pass from Tony Romo and got forced out of bounds. Unable to stop his momentum, Witten bowled over Cowboys’ cheerleader Melissa Kellerman, who was facing the crowd and got blindsided.

Fortunately, Kellerman was fine, though she was clearly caught by surprise on the play. Witten, unsurprisingly, was none the worse for the collision himself, catching two more passes in the fourth quarter to finish with four receptions for 43 yards on the day.

The moment has to be a weird one for Witten, one of the league’s best TEs but one of its least recognizable stars. Now, he’s finally gotten national attention, not for a clutch third-down conversion that set up a TD, but for accidentally knocking over a cheerleader after the play.

Still, all publicity is good publicity for a relative no-name like Witten, and if this bit of slapstick comedy gets him some long-overdue attention, he’s unlikely to complain. He may be Dallas’ leading receiver, but this play will get him far more airtime than any of his 56 catches or five TDs.

Now Witten just has to hope that fans will realize that instead of “that guy who ran into the cheerleader,” he’s “that great TE for the Cowboys who happened to run into a cheerleader.” 

It's not that Witten doesn't have the track record to have become a recognizable name. He's led the Cowboys in receptions every year since 2007.

His biggest problem, though, has been playing for the Cowboys. While Witten just keeps his mouth shut and plays football, teammates like Tony Romo and (formerly) Terrell Owens have grabbed so many headlines with their off-field antics that Witten has been lost in the shuffle.

Through no fault of his own, Witten now has some off-field (or at least on-sideline) hype for himself. Here's hoping that it wins him a few more of the fans he already deserves for his outstanding play over the last five seasons.