The National Football League always seems to have a controversy and last week was no different.
No, this was not a political controversy, but it was still a social one.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was answering questions during his weekly press conference when a female reporter asked him a question about the way one of his receivers ran their routes.
His response to the question?
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes like ... it’s funny.”
I wonder why this is funny?
The reporter in question was Jourdan Rodrigue who is the Panthers beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer.
I think that makes her pretty qualified to ask those questions.
If she did not know what she was talking about she would not have the job she has.
I wonder what it is about Newton that made him think a female asking a question about the intricacies of the game was so funny.
Of course, Newton did come out and apologize for his remark the next day, but that was only after some of his endorsement companies decided to pull the plug on their partnerships.
Females in male sports and males in female sports is admittedly a touchy subject.
But they should all be treated the same.
When someone is holding a press conference they should all be given the same respect.
Now where I think we need to differentiate between the male and female reporters is in the locker room.
Males should not be allowed in a female locker room, and females should not be allowed in a male locker room, just like men aren’t allowed in a female washroom and women are not allowed in a male washroom.
You might say well what about cleaners.
Typically washrooms are closed during cleaning, locker rooms are not empty during the reporters scrums.
I have no problem with females covering male sports, or males covering female sports, but those athletes should be brought out of the dressing room to be interviewed.
To be perfectly honest I understand why we allow reporters into the locker rooms because it is easy to speak to whoever you want, but in my opinion locker rooms should be closed, if reporters want to speak to athletes or coaches after the game, they should be brought out to the reporters.
The locker room should be their safe place.
As for Cam Newton, right now he really does not have a safe place because a lot of eyeballs are on him after his comments.
Is it funny now?
