Image:  Facebook

Gimme a "T!"

The Carolina Panthers, the NFL team that plays in Charlotte, has pulled off something more surprising than the Statue of Liberty play.

The newest addition to the Panthers' cheerleading squad is a Black transgender woman.

I didn't expect to be writing a sentence like that for several more years. Oh me of little faith.

Justine Lindsay, 29, is the brave soul joining the Topcats, as the squad is known. She noted on her application that she's transgender, and Chandalae Lanouette, the Topcats' director, is the brave soul who chose her.

Lindsay, believed to be the NFL's first openly trans cheerleader, will be shaking her pom poms on the sidelines of a hyper-masculine sport in a southern city. Her presence could piss off everyone from KKK'ers to African American ministers to inside linebackers to retired cheerleaders.

If she has to dodge beer cans while performing her routines, I hope stadium security protects her, and I hope she sticks out the first rough months. Because the shock will wear off, and Panther fans will return to the pressing business of asking God to beat the Buccaneers.