Cam Newton Receives Backlash For Sexist Response To Female Reporter

Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton thought it was "funny" that a female reporter asked him a question about pass routes during a press conference yesterday, and he was promptly chastised by several reporters both male and female.

The reporter who asked the question, Jourdan Rodrigue, tweeted that she spoke with Cam after the press conference and "it was worse."

She also released a statement regarding Cam's comments which reads,

"This afternoon, I did my job as an NFL beat writer and asked Cam Newton a question about one of his receivers. I was dismayed by his response, which not only belittled me but countless other women before me and beside me who work in similar jobs," Rodrigue said. "I sought Mr. Newton out as he left the locker room a few minutes later. He did not apologize for his comments."

According to a Charlotte Observer report, Rodrigue asked Cam afterward whether he thought a woman couldn't understand receiver routes.

Per the Charlotte Observer, 

"Newton said she wasn't really seeing specific routes when watching the game, she was just seeing if somebody was open," the Observer reported. "She argued that he didn't know what she saw nor how hard she had studied football, and that maybe the two of them needed to have a deeper conversation.

"Newton said that maybe he should have said it was funny to hear 'reporters' talk about routes and that, if she actually did know about them, then she knew more than most reporters," according to the Observer. "Then he gestured toward the locker room, still filled with her colleagues."

Cam has not yet apologized for laughing at Jourdan's question.

In a statement, the NFL said "the comments are just plain wrong and disrespectful to the exceptional female reporters and all journalists. They do not reflect the thinking of the league." 

Cam