Copyright Arkansas Online
Getting Kelli Finglass to Little Rock wasn't as simple as it used to be. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders director was the featured guest Tuesday in front of a soldout crowd during the Little Rock Touchdown Club's weekly luncheon at the Little Rock Marriott, but it was far from her first visit to the city. As a child, Finglass came to Arkansas for family reunions. Her maternal grandmother, "Grandma Polly," was born in Clinton, and her mother and father lived in Little Rock before she was born. Finglass spoke glowingly of her grandmother, whose gravesite is in Cabot, as an inspiration to her as a child. Little Rock Touchdown Club emcee David Bazzel said Finglass was an especially difficult booking this fall due to her DCC responsibilities. Not only did the club move its usual Monday meeting time back a day to facilitate her visit, but it provided travel for friends and family of Finglass to seal the deal. "It's a real treat, it is," Finglass said of the trip. Finglass' appearance comes off the back of her organization's Netflix show, "America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders." It is the second major television or streaming project the group has been a part of, following a 16-season run on CMT with "Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team," on which Finglass served as an executive producer Finglass, who mentioned on multiple occasions her intense eye for detail, discussed the differences that came with each production. "It was definitely different with CMT," she said. "With CMT, I was much more in the saddle with the director. With Netflix, I had zero editing. I saw a lot of things and learned a lot of things with this show." Finglass, originally from Lindale, Texas, was a member of DCC herself from 1984-1989 and holds the distinction of the last cheerleader to be invited back without an audition, something she and Bazzel joked wouldn't change any time soon. "I have to cement my legacy," Finglass said with a laugh. Finglass was director in 1991, the first season for former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson, who spoke at the club earlier this fall. A video message from Johnson was played midway through Finglass' interview, praising her work with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. "Dallas is known as America's Team as much for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as it is for the football team," Johnson said.
