Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was under fire on Wednesday after making light of a female reporter’s inquiry during a press conference, saying it was “funny to hear a female” ask about football.
The strange episode unfolded during Newton’s regular media availability when Jourdan Rodrigue, a beat reporter with the Charlotte Observer, asked Newton a straightforward question about Carolina wide receiver Devin Funchess’s route-running.
“Cam, I know you take a lot of pride in seeing your receivers play well,” Rodrigue said. “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 kind of truck sticking people out there?”
Newton, who smirked while Rodrigue asked the question, prefaced his response with a sexist dig: “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes. It’s funny.”
Carlin & Reese
(@CarlinReeseWIP)Here’s the video of Cam Newton saying “it’s funny to hear a female talk about routes” pic.twitter.com/hd9Kg4CCeu
Rodrigue later took to social media to address the exchange.
“I don’t think it’s ‘funny’ to be a female and talk about routes. I think it’s my job,” she wrote on Twitter. “I spoke with him after and it was worse. I chose not to share, because I have an actual job to do today and one he will not keep me from.”
The team said Newton “expressed regret” for the comment.
“I have spoken with Jourdan and Cam and I know they had a conversation where he expressed regret for using those words,” Panthers spokesperson Steven Juston said in a statement. “We strive as a department to make the environment for media comfortable for everyone covering the team.”
Newton, who slumped badly last season after being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 2015, has passed for 882 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions in four games this year, leading the Panthers to a 3-1 record.