Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said Thursday night that, «After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women,» a day after he made light of a female reporter for asking a serious football question.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said Thursday night that, «After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women,» a day after he made light of a female reporter for asking a serious football question.
Newton said it was not his intention to be disrespectful.
«If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you,» he said in a video message posted to his Twitter account.
«I’m a man who tries to be a positive role model in my community and tries to use my platform to inspire others. And I take ownership to everything that comes with that. And what I did was extremely unacceptable.»
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Cam Newton laughed at a female reporter who on Wednesday asked about one of his teammates, saying it was «funny to hear a female» ask the question.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera addressed Cam Newton laughing at and making light of a female reporter’s question, saying Thursday that the quarterback «made a mistake.»
Cam Newton’s comments to a female reporter have cost him a sponsorship, as Dannon, maker of the Oikos yogurt brand, said in a statement that it will «no longer work with him.»
Charlotte Observer beat reporter Jourdan Rodrigue asked Newton during Wednesday’s media conference about wide receiver Devin Funchess embracing the physicality of routes and whether Newton got enjoyment out of that.
Newton laughed and responded, «It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes like it’s funny.»
In his video statement Thursday night, Newton noted that he has two daughters.
«At their age, I try to instill to them that they can do and be anything that they want to be. The fact that during this whole process I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans, I realize that the joke is really on me, and I have learned a valuable lesson from this,» he 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.
«To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms, supermoms, to the daughters, the sisters and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope that you can find the kindness in your heart to forgive me. Thank you.»
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Thursday that Newton «made a mistake» with his response to Rodrigue.
«I understand he had a conversation where he pretty much said he shouldn’t have said what he said,» Rivera said. «As far as I’m concerned, what I’d like to do is talk about the Detroit Lions, who we play on Sunday.»
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Dannon Oikos yogurt, one of several companies Newton represents in commercials, announced it was «shocked and disheartened» over Newton’s remarks and no longer would work with the quarterback.
Also on Thursday, Rodrigue tweeted an apology for what she termed «offensive tweets» posted on her account four to five years ago. She did not say specifically which tweets she was referring to.
Charlotte Observer executive sports editor Mike Persinger said that Rodrigue’s apology on Twitter would be the only comments.
Carolina players chose to stay focused on Sunday’s game against the Lions. Many had not heard about Newton’s comments until Thursday.
«That’s something for Cam to deal with and you guys to deal with,» said outside linebacker and team captain Thomas Davis . «We weren’t there. We really don’t know what is happening. So we’re really focused in on Detroit. We can’t allow anything for us to be a distraction.»
Asked what it meant for the face of the organization to make such a comment, Davis said: «That says that’s something Cam is going to have to deal with you guys. He’s going to have to deal with that moving forward. I feel like it’s a situation he’s going to handle and he’s going to handle it well. But for us as a football team, we’ll remain focused on Detroit.»
Rivera said he talked to his players Thursday about staying focused while dealing with off-the-field issues such as Newton’s comment, the shooting in Las Vegas and the devastation from the hurricane in Puerto Rico.
«I said to the guys, there’s some issues out there we have to deal with,» Rivera said. «But be where your feet are. When you’re on the football field, be on the football field. When you’re in the meeting room, be in the meeting room. Try to maintain your focus and stay focused.
«These are trying times. I believe that and I understand that. There are some very serious issues out there, and this country has dealt with a lot of them lately, from the hurricane disasters to the very terrible incident in Las Vegas to this.
