On Wednesday, October 4th, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton took his place at the podium, aware of the types of questions he would be asked. What could’ve been a normal NFL press conference quickly became an incredibly controversial topic in all news outlets. News broke that when a female reporter named Jourdan Rodrigue asked the quarterback an educated question about football, he responded with a sexist remark. Jourdan Rodrigue, who covers the Carolina Panthers for the Charlotte Observer, asked the following question:
“I know you take a lot of pride in seeing your receivers play well. Devin Funchess has seemed to really embrace the physicality of his routes and getting those extra yards. Does that give you a little bit of enjoyment to see him truck-sticking people?”
Newton’s response? “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes like that,” he said. “It’s funny.”
What’s so funny about a reporter doing their job?
From the looks of it, Newton was waiting to hear laughs coming from the other sports writers in the room. Instead, there was silence. It is obvious that if a male had asked this question, Newton would not have responded with, “it’s funny to hear a male talk about routes like that.” Newton has been ridiculed for his comment over the past two days, and severely damaged his relationship with sponsor Dannon Yogurt. Dannon released a statement about their current ties with Newton:
“We are shocked and disheartened at the behavior and comments of Cam Newton towards Jourdan Rodrigue, which we perceive as sexist and disparaging to all women,” Dannon said in a statement. “It’s simply not ok to belittle anyone based on gender. We have shared our concerns with Cam and will no longer work with him.”
While the contract is not terminated, Dannon chose to remove all advertisements that feature the NFL quarterback.
Newton took to his Twitter page to post a video apologizing for his behavior. In this video, he says, “What I did was extremely unacceptable. I’m a father to two beautiful daughters and, at their age, I try to instill in them that they can do an be anything that they want to be.” If Newton encourages his daughters to be anything they want to be, there’s no reason for him to discriminate Rodrigue for being a female.
Sadly, this is just one example of how women in sports media have struggled for equality in their workplace. If you Google “Top Female Sports Reporters” 10 out of the first 19 links highlight the “hottest” female sports reporters, as opposed to the most successful. A person’s gender should not be a setback for success and credibility. Women do not go through years of schooling to become a sports reporter, only to be deemed less credible than their male colleagues. Female sports journalists have been fighting for years to break the glass ceiling that holds them back from achieving the success and recognition they deserve. This remark made by Newton proves that after all these years of fighting, we are still not quite there yet. We must continue to raise awareness of this issue, while encouraging our mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, and colleagues to fight for their equality and to always reach for their dreams. Never allow someone to tell you who you can and cannot be.