Cam Newton laughed at and belittled one of my sportswriting colleagues at The Observer Wednesday, and that is inexcusable.
Jourdan Rodrigue, for the past year one of two beat writers assigned by The Observer to cover the Carolina Panthers, asked Newton during his weekly press conference about wide receiver Devin Funchess’s routes.
“It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes,” Newton said, laughing to himself and then repeating, “It’s funny.” He punctuated the remark with a couple of exaggerated smiles. Only then did he answer the question.
I was in that room, which held about 30 media members, and there was dead silence when Newton proclaimed “It’s funny” – because actually it wasn’t funny at all.