(NewsNation) — Kat Puryear, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, is calling for higher pay and more benefits for the iconic American squad.

She was one of the elite athletes featured in Netflix’s recent documentary, “AMERICA’S SWEETHEARTS: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,” which showed an inside look at the cheerleaders’ world.

Puryear made waves online after speaking frankly about pay in the docuseries — echoing those sentiments directly in an exclusive interview with Natasha Zouves on “NewsNation Prime.”

Fighting for Higher Pay

“I saw a sign for Chick-fil-A workers, and I said, ’Should I get a part time job here, because we’re making the exact same amount,’” recalled Puryear. “There’s no sugar coating it. I did what I had to do, because I wanted this to be my whole entire life. I would take on nanny jobs, part time jobs, front desk jobs that were super flexible so I could get the most out of it.”

NBC Boston previously reported that Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders make about $500 per game, and $15 to $20 per hour for practices. This, as the lowest paid Dallas Cowboys football player earned $830,000, and the quarterback at the time had a $160 million contract.

Puryear believes that, since the cheerleaders aren’t bringing in as much as the players, their pay doesn’t have to be equal — but something does need to change.

“I don’t think we should be making $800,000, even though that’d be sick as a cheerleader,” she said. “However, do I think we should be getting benefits? Absolutely.”

Puryear left the team in 2022 after four years cheering. Before cheerleading, she was crowned Miss North Carolina Teen USA 2012. Even after earning that crown, during the intensive audition process for the team, she tells NewsNation that finances were so tight that she lived out of her car at one point.

Today, she works in content creation and commercial leasing and has made a point to advocate for the women who are still on the squad.

Charlotte Jones, the Dallas Cowboys’ chief brand officer and daughter of owner Jerry Jones, said in the docuseries:

“The facts are that they actually don’t come here for the money. They come here for something that’s actually bigger than that to them. They have a passion for dance. There are not a lot of opportunities in the field of dance, and to get to perform at an elite level … It is about being a part of something bigger than themselves. It is about a sisterhood that they were able to form, about relationships that they have for the rest of their lives,” said Jones.

“Yes, it is about sisterhood and passion. Absolutely. I met my best friends,” Puryear told NewsNation in response. “However, we can still have best friends [and] I’m still paid fairly for my job in commercial leasing. Both are doable.”

Stalking and Harassment

Puryear also opened up about some of the more sensitive topics in the cheerleaders’ worlds, like serious stalking and sexual harassment from fans, injuries and ever-present body scrutiny.

On the docuseries, one of the cheerleaders speaks about finding an AirTag placed on her car from a stalker. Puryear says the level of harassment can become frightening.

“When you have the uniform… people are obsessed, they feel like they have this access towards you. When I was on the team, there were people who were getting my address and sending me stuff in the mail, just very weird stuff,” Puryear said.

“And we have security that works over cyber and are protecting us and making sure that subpoenas are served… however when we’re off the team, we don’t get that access anymore, and that’s kind of the scary part,” she added.

Life-Altering Injuries

She told NewsNation that her time on the team took a major toll on her body, with intense training and high-stakes performances now leaving her unable to sit for more than an hour at a time without her hips “locking up.”

“They have a physical therapist on site… but she’s just one person, and working with 36 girls on the team and then 50 girls in training camp, so she can only do so much,” said Puryear. “I was like ‘Hey… I don’t want to get in your way. Just give me a steroid shot and let me get out of here.’”

Puryear believes she’s paying the price today, describing her hips as being similar to a “55 or 60 year old.”

“I have two torn labrums, and my bones literally are rubbing together … That hip surgery is going to be a pain in the butt in the next few years,” she said.

Puryear says she doesn’t expect that the DCC will be paying for her eventual surgery.

Diversity

As far as the squad goes, Puryear says she has noticed the team losing some of its diversity.

“After the pandemic, we had 11 Black girls on the team, and that’s the most Black girls we’ve ever had,” And then we’re kind of losing that again,” she said. Around 80% of the Dallas Cowboys’ audience speaks Spanish, according to Puryear — and she points out there is no one who knows the language on the team.

One squad tradition that sparked conversation online involves the cheerleaders receiving a special DCC Barbie. The only options are a white, blonde Barbie, or a white, brunette Barbie.

Puryear describes the team as “very traditional,” adding, “I think they’re trying to come out of their traditional ways. We have a girl on the team now who has braids, the first girl ever to have braids on the team. Little wins, we’ll take it. I think DCC is very traditional, but that’s what gets them far.”

And what gets Puryear far is her goal of breaking “generational curses” and making her late mother proud.

“I want to break the curse of thinking you have to fit into a stigma in order to fit in places, because this world is so big and so vast, and we’re not going to please everyone … I think that’s a legacy that I want to carry on, and what I’m always trying to spread to other people,” she added.