Paige Buechele, wife of Buffalo Bills quarterback Shane Buechele, is happily retired from cheerleading, but that doesn’t mean the former Orange Squad member doesn’t have some regrets.
Paige was a cheerleader at the University of Texas where she met Shane, then a Longhorns quarterback. She revealed via her Instagram Stories on Thursday, June 19, that she wishes she tried out for the Cowboys’ cheer squad, America’s Sweethearts.
“OMG I WISH,” she wrote in a Q&A in response to a fan who asked whether she ever auditioned. “I cheered all my life, and the DCC are gorgeous gals are dancers…I really wish I stayed so I could have gone that route. So much respect for them!”
She added that she just started watching the second season of Netflix’ docuseries, America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.
Paige and Shane married in 2023 and welcomed daughter Blaize in April. Now a mom, she said she’s not going back to cheerleading. When a fan asked whether she would join the Bills’ cheer squad if they had one, she replied, “Hahaha, I am retired.”
She expanded, describing the physical toll that collegiate cheer took on her body.
“Years of two to fulls and running fulls on turf will do that to ya!” she wrote. “I already have pain from arthritis and slightly herniated discs due to so much impact on my back from tumbling.”
Paige also made it clear that those who don’t believe cheerleading is a sport are woefully misinformed.
Courtesy of Netflix The Netflix docuseries America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders has put NFL cheerleaders into the limelight during the sport’s offseason. And with all eyes on the hardest-working fans in the stadium, it begs an obvious question: Just how much do NFL cheerleaders get paid? It turns out, not a whole lot. NFL cheerleaders […]
“I always giggle on the inside when people try to say cheer isn’t a sport because they obviously don’t understand the full scope of competitive and collegiate cheerleading and don’t care to,” she said. “So, I’m not wasting my energy explaining it to them.”
A former Miss Dallas USA, Paige is now a realtor, licensed in Texas, Kansas and Missouri (Shane began his career with the Kansas City Chiefs before signing with the Bills in 2023). Though she has her hands full as a new mom, she also noted that she’s about to enter her favorite part of the football schedule.
“In this phase of life, preseason [is my favorite season],” she said. “Training camp is so fun to go to, especially now that we have a daughter to go watch her daddy play. It’s such an exciting time and an important part of the season for Shane, so I love it.”
Shane re-signed with the Bills in the 2024-25 offseason on a one-year contract. They begin training camp July 23.