Cam Newton Under Fire For Condescending Remarks Toward Female Reporter
BOSTON (CBS) -- Even after one of his biggest wins of the past two seasons, Cam Newton couldn't avoid putting his foot in his mouth and drawing the ire of the media nationwide.
Newton has found himself embroiled in controversy after a condescending answer to a question by Panthers beat writer Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer. Rodrigue asked the quarterback about the emergence of receiver Devin Funchess and mentioned his confidence in "his routes," which prompted this initial response from Newton:
"It's funny to hear a female talking about 'routes'. Like ... That's funny."
Newton continued with a standard answer about Funchess, but the damage had been done. The video of the comment only makes it worse when you see Newton's body language and facial expressions.
Rich Shertenlieb commented on the tense atmosphere and silence among other reporters after Newton's comment, which spoke to their reluctance to call him out or ask follow-ups.
"It's one of those moments where it halts everything in the room, and he's making this face and rolling his eyes like 'You gotta be kidding me'," said Shertenlieb. "It once again plays to that thing we talk about. Reporters, when they go into these rooms and they speak to athletes, coaches ... there's this air of fear, that you have to fear these people, and you have to treat them like they're something bigger than what you are."
Listen above as T&R debate with callers about the nature of Newton's remarks, and play some more audio of other times the quarterback behaved immaturely or offensively toward reporters and others.