The Minnesota Vikings male cheerleaders sparked a debate among NFL fans in the preseason even as the franchise was far from the first to have them on their sideline.Napoleon Jinnies, who was the first male cheerleader in the NFL when he performed for the Los Angeles Rams in 2018, came out in defense of Blaize Shiek and Louie Conn.CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COMJinnies told People in a recent interview that the outrage around male cheerleaders was nothing new."Im rolling my eyes," he told the magazine. "Theyre not saying anything new."Jinnies recalled his own journey going from competitive cheerleading in college to trying to make a profession out of his passion. He wasnt the only male cheerleader on the team either.He said critics sent nasty messages on social media and were heckling them at games. He said the comments and criticism didnt bother him because they werent attacking his cheering or dancing abilities.COWBOYS OWNER JERRY JONES SAYS MICAH PARSONS WON'T RECEIVE TRIBUTE VIDEO AS PACKERS HEAD TO DALLAS IN WEEK 4"The comments from people who were from my childhood to preteen to college were the exact same comments from these random adults," he said. "And theyre not saying anything about what Im putting out as an artist."He added that he received a ton of support that overshadowed the hate and applauded the skills of Shiek and Conn."Maybe I could see their point if they were bad cheerleaders," he said of the detractors. "But theyre beat-for-beat, step-for-step killing it with the girls. Im looking at them like a dance judge, like, Well, they shine. Sorry if that ruffles your feathers."Shiek and Conn have continued to perform for the Vikings despite the social media outrage.Minnesota has started the season 2-1 despite losing quarterback J.J. McCarthy for a few weeks with an injury.Follow Fox News Digitalssports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.