Laura Vikmanis, Oldest NFL Cheerleader, Gets Film

NFL's Oldest Cheerleader, 42, Gets Her Own Film

Mom, cheerleader, and now, inspiration for a major motion picture.

At 42 years old, Laura Vikmanis is the NFL's oldest cheerleader. A registered dietician, trainer and mom of teenagers who set her mind to making the squad and joined the Cincinnati Bengals' Ben-Gals squad in 2009, Vikmanis serves as a guide for her younger cheerleading teammates. If it sounds like a Hollywood film, well, it soon will be.

New Line Cinema has picked up the rights to Vikmanis' story, The Hollywood Reporter reports, with "Gnomeo and Juliet" writers Emily Cook and Kathy Greenberg set to translate her life to a film script. It's a story that has already been documented in the national press.

“I was at a point in my life where I was like, ‘What do I really want to do? What’s something in my life that makes me happy?’ ” Vikmanis told her local Dayton Daily News in 2009. “I went to a couple games and saw the cheerleaders and thought that looked really, really fun.”

Still, no one thought she could make it, so when she made it to the final round of cuts in 2008, it inspired her to train for an entire year, making the team the next time around.

“My family, I think at first when I told them I was going to try out, were like ‘Oh yeah, that’s something fun to try,’" she said. "When I finally made it they were in tears and just so excited. They have been behind me 100 percent. ... My children thought it was cool, but I don’t think they understood fully until they went to the game and actually saw me on the field. They think it’s so cool."

For more on the film, click over to The Hollywood Reporter. To see Vikmanis tell her story in her own words, click over to Yahoo! News.

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