Phyllis from The Office was once an NFL cheerleader. Yep

So the big news of the day, with the movie Bad Teacher hitting theaters, is that Phyllis Smith (you know, Phyllis from The Office) was once an NFL cheerleader. Smith also has a major role in Bad Teacher.

Back back when I wrote for Deadspin, Will Leitch was all over this story … beating the competition by five years.

The actress who plays Phyllis is named Phyllis Smith, and she’s got a fun piece of trivia: She’s a former cheerleader for The Buzzsaw That Is The Arizona St. Louis Cardinals. She was a dancer in the mid-80s, a cheerleader and burlesque performer, before she blew out her knee and became a receptionist for casting agencies. That ended up with her, by chance, being cast on “The Office” and becoming the most famous former Buzzsaw cheerleader we know. Plus, she knits.

We are told she looked somewhat different in the mid-80s. Though with the history of the Buzzsaw, we wouldn’t be that surprised if she didn’t.

I’ve always considered the American version of The Office a weak imitation of the original Ricky Gervais British version, but I admire the actors in it, and Phyllis has always been one of the best.

By the way, they should have canceled the show when Steve Carell left. Not because he’s the be-all-end-all, but because it’s been seven years. Come on, seeing these people still working for Dunder-Mifflin is getting depressing.

But Phyllis may not agree.

Phyllis Smith’s life reads sort of like a fairy tale starting with her time as a cheerleader for the Cardinals, the football variety.

“Dance and watch football at the same time, I mean I thought those were the days, the best days of my life,” Smith says.

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Wait, What?! Phyllis From The Office Is A Former NFL Cheerleader [Sports Grid]