Carolina Panthers quarterback, Cameron Newton is getting the business today or should I say he's losing his business due to his response to a female reporter. Jourdan Rodrigue, a Charlotte Observer reporter asked him a question about “routes” in which he responded with a nervous laugh and smiled while stating that he thought it was funny to hear a female talk about routes. Being a new football mom, I will admit that after his response I did google routes in football. Routes are the pattern or path that a receiver runs to get open for a forward pass, in case you didn't know.
I decided to watch the interview again after I learned that people were up in arms over this response. What I saw reminded me of an immature person that was caught off guard by a question. He seemed to be impressed with her knowledge and smitten with her. I'm not excusing it or saying that her feelings don't matter but I don't think he should lose endorsements as a result.
Offended?
I took to Facebook and asked women if they were offended. The responses varied. Many said no because they either didn't like him or thought he was a jerk anyway but there were a few that were angry. One female mentioned that the word female can be a trigger and she felt it was demeaning in this instance. The response that I loved most was from an avid football fan, who equated it to a female CEO being laughed at by her male counterparts because of her knowledge of profit and loss statements.
One must admit that football is a male dominated sport. Most of the journalist are men, the players are all men and the majority of viewers are men. I personally only attend games because my son is a player. I have no clue what is happening and I really don't want to know. At the games, you will see me socializing and clapping when advised by my daughter who loves the game. Many women developed a love of the game from their fathers or significant others but do they know all the jargon. Rodrigue is definitely different as this is her job and passion.
Apology?
I think he should apologize because of how it made her feel. The question was valid considering what just happened on the field but his response was not. I guess it's kinda of like how I laugh at men who have a deep knowledge of Christian Louboutins.
I hope Cam has learned his lesson as Rodrigue has already taken her comments to twitter and is garnishing lots of support. I wonder how many of those same people are up in arms over the way the current President of the United States of America treats women.
