When the Washington Redskins took their cheerleading squad to Costa Rica in 2013 for a calendar photo shoot, the first cause for concern among the cheerleaders came when Redskins officials collected their passports upon arrival at the resort, depriving them of their official identification. 
 
 For the photo shoot, at the adults-only Occidental Grand Papagayo resort on Culebra Bay, some of the cheerleaders said they were required to be topless, though the photographs used for the calendar would not show nudity. Others wore nothing but body paint. Given the resort’s secluded setting, such revealing poses would not have been a concern for the women — except that the Redskins had invited spectators. 
 
 A contingent of sponsors and FedExField suite holders — all men — were granted up-close access to the photo shoots. 
 
 One evening, at the end of a 14-hour day that included posing and dance practices, the squad’s director told nine of the 36 cheerleaders that their work was not done. They had a special assignment for the night. Some of the male sponsors had picked them to be personal escorts at a nightclub. ||||| To “protect” themselves, the members of the squad are expected to be fully responsible for ensuring that they pose no temptation to the players by avoiding any social interaction with them in any setting. 
 
 These rules seem to assume that the same NFL players that the cheerleaders energetically support all season, are dangerous predators that must be avoided at all costs off the field. 
 
 The recent firing of New Orleans Saints cheerleader Bailey Davis has once again revealed the hypocritical rules of the NFL and its teams. Davis, a three-year veteran of the Saintsations cheerleading squad, posted a photo of herself on her private Instagram account wearing a lacy one-piece body outfit that was no more revealing than her cheerleading uniform. She was subsequently fired by the football team for violating its rules of conduct for cheerleaders. 
 
 Cheerleaders are required to block NFL players from following them on social media — even though there is no corresponding rule forbidding the players from seeking out squad members. Cheerleaders cannot go to restaurants where players are dining. And if the squad is at a restaurant and team members walk in, it is the cheerleaders who must leave. 
 
 Following her dismissal from the squad, Davis filed a discrimination complaint before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging that the league permits two sets of rules: one for the female cheerleaders and another for the male NFL players. 
 
 Predictably, the next step in Davis’ claim will likely be a deflection from the NFL, which will argue that her firing was a team decision, and not reflective of the league or its policies. But the NFL cannot ignore its responsibility in promoting a system rife with double-standards. The league has a history of implementing lenient punishments that protect players, even when their behavior caused harm. 
 
 Such disparate treatment can be found in a simple comparison of the punishment inflicted on Davis for wearing lace in a photo on her personal Instagram account, and the NFL’s more lenient treatment of New Orleans Saints players who kept their jobs despite significantly more egregious behaviors. 
 
 For example, a wide receiver who drove while intoxicated and crashed his car was not terminated; he was suspended for three games. A tight end involved in a road rage incident in which he allegedly pointed a gun at another driver was not terminated; he was suspended for one game. A cornerback arrested for driving his Jaguar 100 miles-per-hour in a 65 mile-per-hour zone was not suspended and remained a part of the team. Other players have had suspensions — not firings — for violations of league substance abuse and performance-enhancing drugs policies. 
 
 And this is the same team where players and administrative personnel were suspended for operating a bounty system in which players were paid bonuses for hard hits and deliberately injuring opposing players. 
 
 The occasional peek behind the NFL’s curtain of secrecy shows that discrimination against cheerleaders is a league-wide problem. Players are paid millions, while cheerleaders’ stipends are so low teams keep that information a closely guarded secret, one that only occasionally spills out in lawsuits indicating that wages can be less than $10 per hour. For the past several years, lawsuits have been filed by NFL cheerleaders and, even today, it is not clear whether every team pays even the minimum wage to their squad members. (Like their fellow teams, the Patriots refuse to disclose how much their cheerleaders earn.) 
 
 The average NFL team is valued at $2.5 billion. Yet the league continues to allow teams to pay substandard wages to its cheerleaders and to impose unacceptable and demeaning limits on their non-workplace behaviors. 
 
 Davis’ legal action offers an opportunity for the NFL to recognize cheerleaders as athletes who deserve to be fairly treated, on and off the field, for their commitment to their teams and their skills. That would, of course, require the league to stand for more than Commissioner Roger Goodell’s goal of “protecting the shield,” the NFL’s emblem. 
 
 It’s time for the NFL to quit hiding behind the shield and summon the courage to protect all of the athletes who contribute to the wealth and success of the league, and its teams. 
 
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– There's some disagreement about what went down when the Washington Redskins cheerleading squad traveled to Costa Rica in 2013. According to the five unnamed women Juliet Macur spoke to for the New York Times, the trip ended up feeling exploitative. They were at the Occidental Grand Papagayo resort for a calendar photo shoot; some of the 36 women were required to take off their tops at times to facilitate the shots, others wore body paint. And the women say they weren't able to model in privacy, but that male Redskins suite holders and sponsors were invited to watch. And they allege that one evening, nine of the women were told they had been selected to accompany the men to a club. The women describe their evening as escorts (no sex was involved) as "mandatory" and said they felt as if the team was "pimping us out." Some reportedly cried at the news they had to participate. Macur writes the trip "provides a vivid illustration of how NFL teams have used cheerleaders for far more than sideline dancers during games," particularly as the allegations of discrimination and mistreatment mount. But the women's account is contradicted by both the squad's director and choreographer, Stephanie Jojokian, and two women who were then squad captains and described the night at the club as unforced and "just a night of relaxation." Jojokian tells the Times she "would never put a woman in a situation like that. I actually mentor these women to be strong and to speak up, and it kills me to hear that." Read the full story here.