Cam Newton thinks female reporter talking routes is 'funny'

Maybe. I don't know the reporter one bit, I'm just vaguely familiar with her work. Either way, I mostly try not to judge questions in press conferences, especially how they're phrased, because with so little access to players anymore, pressers are required to do all kinds of heavy lifting. Perhaps Rodrigue had a Funchess feature she was working on and she really needed a quote or anecdote from Newton about him, and in her experience, this was the best way to get a good answer out of him. Sometimes questions that make athletes roll their eyes elicit great answers. Sometimes great questions get deflected and turn into missed opportunities. I was once hammered on talk radio for asking Ray Lewis what Bible verse he read before games. Host went on and on about who gives a shit, why ask such a lame question, obviously I was trying to suck up to Lewis' fake Christianity, etc. But here is the rub: I needed the detail for a narrative I was working on about the slow boil of the locker room before kickoff, what every player does to steel himself for the on-coming violence. I had a ton of other stuff from other players, but this was the only time to ask Lewis a question, because he only did one media availability per week and I wanted him as a small character in the story. People think of pressers as public showcases — look at me, football scribe! — but often it's the one chance to get anything from your main subject, and you do what you can with it to help you in your job, and shrug at anyone who grumbles.

 

The whole thing is weird. I doubt Newton put any thought into the comment (not that that is an excuse) - but I am surprised how much of a thing it has generated. A lost endorsement, the reporter now the top trending thing on the search engines. The media world we live in..

 

The actual question:



It's a step above, "Talk about how happy you were that Devin Funchess knocked people over."

Doesn't absolve Cam for his dunderhead response. A million male reporters have asked a million similar versions of the question to ingratiate themselves with a player or coach. The dunderhead responses they get don't drip of sexism.

 

Thinking more about it, I don't even know if it's sexism. I think Cam's hitting on her.

 

It puts her in line with all sportswriters, since none of them - not even the longform heroes - bat 1.000 when it comes to the "dullard" standard.

 

Interesting thought. Maybe he'd have been ok (with the public if not the media) if he'd said "reporter" instead of "female," but he didn't. Players generally have pretty good instincts about when reporters are trying too hard to impress the crowd or full of shit.

 

Let's be frank: If Cam had said "Truck sticking? ... Dang, Jourdan, you know your stuff. I'm laughing, but you're straight!" before giving the same answer, he'd have expressed a similar sentiment but engendered tons of goodwill.

 

Also: I've been covering college and professional football for 15 years, and this is the first time I've ever heard the phrase "truck stick" which is to say...

Damn Millenials!

 

I was wondering if that's an actual football term or if she is just putting her Madden skillz to use. That's the only place I've ever heard it.

 

Sure, it would be wonderful if we all could think and speak extemporaneously as well as you write.

 

I agree it's unrealistic to expect witty repartee that matches writing; I think my point is if he was less condescending, he could have expressed the same spirit some are suggesting he intended, "Wow, hey, a girl who knows football!" He essentially debunked that theory, though, in the follow-up conversation where he conceded he found all reporters dumb, and that he did not even know her name.

 

Tomorrow's headline: Cam loses a sponsorship, Jourdan loses her job.