For the second time in his estimable NFL career, free-agent quarterback Cam Newton finds himself in justified hot water after making denigrating comments about women. Appearing on Barstool Sports’ “Million Dollaz Worth of Game” podcast last Sunday, Newton had a lot to say about the “proper” roles of women in today’s society.
“I had a perfect, a perfect example of what a man was in my life by my father,” Newton said. “My parents have been together for 36, 37 years now and it’s a beautiful thing I grew up in a three-parent household: my mom, my father and my grandmother and I knew what a woman was, not a bad [expletive], a woman.”
Newton was happy to elaborate when asked the difference between a woman and a bad [expletive].
NFL quarterback Cam Newton complained about women who "can't cook" and "don’t know when to be quiet."
"Now a women for me is, handling your own but knowing how to cater to a man’s needs." https://t.co/Dzw3QMtpwI pic.twitter.com/WdYsetopRJ
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) April 11, 2022
“Now, a woman for me is, handling your own but knowing how to cater to a man’s needs. Right? And I think a lot of times when you get that aesthetic of: ‘I’m a boss [expletive], Imma this, Imma that.’ No, baby. But you can’t cook. You don’t know when to be quiet. You don’t know how to allow a man to lead.”
Well, there was that. Back in October, 2017, Newton was asked by Jourdan Rodrigue, then the Carolina Panthers beat reporter for the Charlotte Observer, about his timing with his receivers, particularly Devin Funchess.
Newton’s response was… regrettable.
Jen Welter, the NFL's first female coach, weighs in on Cam Newton's sexist remarks against reporter Jourdan Rodrigue pic.twitter.com/jay8kEBZoV
— Forbes (@Forbes) October 13, 2017
“After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women,” Newton later said in a statement.
Perhaps the understanding is lagging behind. The incident didn’t hurt Rodrigue’s career, she’s now the Rams reporter for The Athletic, and one of the best and most tuned-in beat writers, regardless of team or sport.
But the overarching point of Newton’s backward attitudes toward women go far beyond the idea that he has the right to say whatever he wants as long as he’s not hurting anybody.
Because he is hurting people — specifically, the women who have had to endure glass ceilings right above their heads for decades as they have tried to advance at any level of football in any capacity.
It’s not my place to speak for Laurie Fitzpatrick, who writes about Xs and Os for us at Touchdown Wire, or Natalie Miller, who’s been doing draft scouting reports over at Draft Wire at an accelerated pace, or Maddy Hudak, who writes great stuff about the schematic and technical elements of the game for Saints Wire, feel about this. But I can’t imagine, given the effort and expertise they put into their work, it goes over very well. Nor should it. Now, he’s just one more guy who doesn’t see women for all their potential and capabilities.
Newton’s words last week were also an insult to any woman who has raised children as a single mother (my late mother was one who did a pretty good job). Newton doesn’t have a responsibility to be enlightened in this regard if he doesn’t feel it (and clearly he doesn’t), but the repeated denigration of women is a disconcerting look from anybody in the public eye.
And Newton should understand, more than most, just how much the worst-placed words can control a narrative in hurtful ways. The first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Newton had to endure a torrent of off-base pre-draft speculation from amateur scouts who seemed to want to elevate their own careers off Newton’s back. The most infamous example came from Nolan Nawrocki, who wrote for Pro Football Weekly back then:
“Very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law — does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room . . . Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.”
Given that Newton won the 2015 NFL MVP award and was one of his era’s most physically transcendent players of his era at his best, it’s safe to say that the work of Nawrocki and others was hit-piece level stuff with very little basis in fact. It didn’t hurt Newton’s draft stock in the end, but it had to affect him as a human being.
Cam Newton deserved better when he moved from college to the pros. It’s a shame that he isn’t able to realize that there are other marginalized people who deserve the respect he unfortunately didn’t get.
