Some guys just don’t get it.
I’m of course referring to Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton, who found himself at the center of the NFL’s latest controversy after one of the most boneheaded press conference moments in recent memory. Following a 2-touchdown performance from receiver and fellow Carolina teammate, Devin Funchess, Newton was asked by Panthers beat writer, Jourdan Rodrigue, if he got a kick out of the physicality with which Funchess approached his routes. Without even so much as a second to digest the question, Newton snickered and spewed out this little doozy:
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes…it’s funny.”
Cam’s cringe-worthy clapback evokes but one question from me: “How?”
How does a 6-year NFL veteran, former league MVP, and spokesperson for several high-profile sponsors exhibit such a lack of self-awareness? How anyone – let alone a professional athlete with the stature of Newton’s – could let that kind of remark leave their lips seems incomprehensible to me. We live in a hypersensitive society where every piece of public commentary is dissected and analyzed to no end. The reality is, one’s intent usually gets lost in all of that. So if you’re Cam, stick to the simple rule we’re all taught in Kindergarten: think before you speak.
And it’s not like Rodrigue is one of those air-headed show hosts with no credentials beyond a pretty face. She’s a beat writer, who’s likely had to grind day in and day out just to make it inside that press conference. I think it’s safe to assume she knows the difference between a slant and a seam.
Those who know me know I’m not one to wave the social justice flag, but Newton’s comments are too laughably demeaning for me to stay quiet. At the end of the day, Rodrigue is just trying to do her job. If only Cam Newton knew took a break from his cocky, self-serving act to see that.
