The biggest story of the week that wasn’t directly related to politics came from my Carolina Panthers.
On Wednesday, quarterback Cam Newton was taking questions after practice when The Charlotte Observer’s Panthers beat reporter, Jourdan Rodrigue, asked Newton his thoughts about one of his receivers, Devin Funchess, being willing to run aggressive routes. Watch Newton’s response here.
When Rodrigue asked Newton about Funchess’ choice of routes, Newton smiled, laughed, and replied:
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes. It’s funny.”
Once word got out about that press conference, the criticism came in fast and hard. After all, no one could seriously deny that this remark was outrageously sexist–especially considering that Newton has been alive long enough to see dozens of women covering the NFL and college football. Within 24 hours, yogurt maker Dannon announced that it had canceled its $10 million deal with Newton.
But believe it or not, at least one person was actually willing to come to Newton’s defense–black conservative pastor Jesse Lee Peterson. When Dannon tore up its deal with Newton, Peterson didn’t understand what the fuss was about.
NOT a fan of #CamNewton but his comments were harmless & it's ?to hear women talking football. https://t.co/dt526JIwfm via @BleacherReport
— Jesse Lee Peterson (@JLPtalk) October 5, 2017
Black #NFL players can disrespect USA, but better NOT make fun of women. Uh uh, can't do that! @NFL @Dannon @CameronNewton #CamNewton
— Jesse Lee Peterson (@JLPtalk) October 5, 2017
Cam Newton was dropped by @Dannon & rebuked by @NFL for this comment to female reporter pretending to know football. Good job snowflakes! https://t.co/A5RciC44nF
— Jesse Lee Peterson (@JLPtalk) October 5, 2017
No, Jesse. Those comments weren’t harmless. They were sexist and degrading. And you laugh at the idea of a woman talking about football? Where have you been in the last two decades?
I say this as someone who attended a high school where the girls knew as much about football as the guys did, and were equally willing to make life miserable for referees and opposing players. The same was true when I was a student at the University of North Carolina. If Peterson spent any time around them, he wouldn’t find it as funny to hear women talking football–or any sport, for that matter.
Newton reportedly apologized privately to Rodrigue after the press conference ended. However, he didn’t seem to know or understand that a private apology wasn’t going to cut it. By Thursday night, however, Newton came to his senses and issued a public apology.
— Cameron Newton (@CameronNewton) October 6, 2017
That didn’t sit very well with Peterson. On Friday’s show, Peterson claimed there was a double standard in society–supposedly, you can trash men all you want, but “it’s over” if you say anything about a woman. He also wondered why Newton was taking more flack for that remark than for raising a “black power” fist. He believed that it was more “important” to address a player making an “evil” sign than one making a mere “joke.”
To understand how Peterson can think that Newton’s remarks were just a “joke,” consider that this is a man who thinks Donald Trump–a guy who finds it acceptable to revel in degrading women and tweet violent memes depicting him attacking women–is his idea of a real man. So it should come as no surprise that he finds it acceptable for players to make degrading comments about female sports reporters.
Peterson claims to be working to “rebuild men” through his nonprofit organization, the Brotherhood Organization for a New Destiny. Well, if telling sexist jokes is Peterson’s idea of what a “rebuilt man” looks like, it’s time to take a wrecking ball to BOND.
(featured image courtesy BOND’s Facebook)
