ARLINGTON, Texas — Monday night was the start of My Cause My Cleats for Dallas Cowboys players. Individual players wear cleats to raise awareness and money for causes they care about.
America's Sweethearts, the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, observe "My Cause My Boots". For Armani Latimer, that meant going on the field without something.
Latimer has alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Ahead of the Dallas Cowboys Monday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Latimer went on the field without a wig for the first time, raising awareness for alopecia.
"I always knew that I wanted to eventually dance in some capacity without my wig, just to make it not a stigma anymore," Latimer said in an interview with GMA.
Latimer, who has been with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders since 2020, was diagnosed with alopecia areata when she was just 12 years old.
According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, the disease affects nearly seven million people in the U.S. and 160 million worldwide. Women are more likely to develop alopecia than men, and women of Asian, Black and Hispanic descent have a higher chance of developing alopecia.
Latimer has raised awareness for the disease before. In September, she made a post on Instagram for Alopecia Awareness Month.
"I wanted to take it a step further because in the years prior, I posted about it on my Instagram," Latimer said. "I just wanted to take it a step further. Wanted to get the conversation out there a little more. And I thought, well, what better way than to go out on the field and just, you know, just show the world who I am."
In the tunnel, other Cowboys cheerleaders were hyping Latimer up for the moment she took the field.
"I don't think I had a dry eye at any point during that performance, because every single person who was on the field with me, who was dancing with me, all of my teammates, they were all cheering for me," Latimer said. "I could hear them behind me, and I, I was just crying the entire time, because I was so happy."
Hopefully, Latimer's display on Monday will inspire others to embrace their differences and raise awareness for the cause.
"Whatever you're going through, it should never deter you away from reaching for your dreams or your goals."