Cam Newton Apology Worth a Listen
Thursday evening Cam Newton released a video where he apologized for his sexist comments to a female reporter that asked him a question about receiver routes. In his original comments to the reporter Newton expressed disbelief that a woman was asking him about routes.
Before I get to his actually apology it has to be said, apparently, that Cam should know better. In this day in age, you have to know how to control what comes out of your mouth. Yes we should all treat each other as equals, and not be “ists” i.e. racists, sexists, you know “ists”. Clearly it is a lesson that still needs to be taught and taught better. We can’t necessarily change whats in people’s hearts, but you would think Cam would know by now that statements like that, towards a woman in a field dominated by men, is at the very least bad for his brand and at worst, shows his complete lack of understanding of gender equality and the struggle of women in the work place.
Cam has had his moments in the media where his responses have been called into question and this will eventually pass, but hopefully he learns a lesson and treats women with more respect in all aspect of life.
In regards to his apology, it actually seemed heart felt. It wasn’t scripted, it sounded sincere, honest, and introspective. He didn’t do it in front of reporters, it looked like he did it either in his basement or somewhere in the halls of Bank of America stadium so there was no one to ask him tough questions after. He absolutely deserves the criticism he is receiving, he lost sponsors, and the respect of women around the NFL world and beyond. All that being said, Cam needs to learn his lesson, work with women’s causes, raise his daughters to be strong independent women, and we need to hold him accountable to all of it, but move on.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton apologized Thursday night for remarks to a female reporter that were widely denounced as sexist — and urged his young fans to “be better than me.”
Oiko yogurt canceled a sponsorship deal the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner and even the National Football League slammed Newton, one of its most popular and recognizable stars, after he appeared to ridicule Jourdan Rodrigue, who covers the Panthers for The Charlotte Observer, on Wednesday.
When Rodrigue asked Newton at a news conference about the skill at running pass routes displayed by one of his wide receivers, Newton smirked and said: “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes. It’s funny.”
The NFL, echoing the responses of many journalism groups and sportswriters — both male and female — called the remarks “just plain wrong and disrespectful to the exceptional female reporters and all journalists who cover our league.”
In a video he posted to Twitter on Thursday night, Newton acknowledged that “what I did was extremely unacceptable.”
“The fact that, during this whole process, I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans — I realize that the joke is really on me,” he said. “I’ve learned a valuable lesson from this.”
Oiko, which is produced by Dannon Co. Inc., is the only company publicly known to have severed its ties with Newton. His reference to “sponsors” wasn’t immediately clear.
Toward the end of the 1-minute, 48-second video, Newton said: “And to the young people who see this, I hope that you learn something from this as well: Don’t be like me. Be better than me.”
Steve
Steve is an affordable multifamily housing professional that is also the co-founder of Whiskey Congress. Steve has written for national publications such as The National Marijuana News and other outlets as a guest blogger on topics covering sports, politics, and cannabis. Steve loves whiskey, cigars, and uses powerlifting as an outlet to deal with the fact that no one listens to his brilliant ideas.
