Sunday marked the end of the season for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the beginning of a new chapter in the love story of team cheerleader Benjamin Ajani and his boyfriend, Dominic Williams, who surprised Ajani with a marriage proposal at the final game.
After the national anthem and before the kick off in the Falcons’ game against the New Orleans Saints, Ajani was asked by his coach to make a promotional appearance on the upper deck of the stadium. When Ajani stepped off the elevator, he saw Williams bent on one knee.
“I’ve always had a dream that it would happen this way,” Ajani told NBC News. “All cheerleaders want to get proposed to at a game. It’s such a big part of your life. You cheer and dance your whole life, and your teammates are really special to you, because you spend so much time together.”
With the help and support of Ajani’s coach and fellow cheerleaders, Williams was able to coordinate the heartwarming moment.
Ajani began cheering for the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 and has since been part of a small group of openly gay male NFL cheerleaders. He shared how in 2018 he witnessed a wave of male cheerleaders auditioning for the NFL cheer teams, which ultimately inspired him to audition two years later.
“It’s one of the top things I’ve ever done in my life, and now it’s even more special because of the fact that I got engaged at a game,” he said.
Before he started cheering for the Falcons, Ajani spent four seasons as a cheerleader for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, and when he’s not performing, he works as a senior finance associate at a consulting firm, according to his official Falcons bio.
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