Cam Newton made a huge mistake Wednesday when he made a sexist remark directed toward a female reporter, and now he has issued an apology.
The Carolina Panthers star quarterback said it was “funny to hear a female talk about routes,” after Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer asked a smart question regarding wide receiver Devin Funchess’ physicality. The backlash against Newton and his inappropriate comment was swift and cost the quarterback at least one sponsor. NESN.com’s Courtney Cox has the details in the video above with your Xfinity X1 Report.
But Newton posted an apology video to his Twitter on Thursday, apologizing and asking his fans to be better than he is.
— Cameron 1 Newton (@CameronNewton) October 6, 2017
“After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was degrading and disrespectful to women,” Newton said. “To be honest, that was not my intentions and if you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.”
Newton continued to discuss how he tries to be a role model in his community and takes responsibility for everything that comes with that.
He then spoke about his role as a father to his two daughters and realized his comments harmed them and made him look foolish, among other things.
“I’m a father to two beautiful daughters, and at their age, I try to instill in them that they can do and be anything that they want to be,” Newton said. “Throughout this whole process, the fact that I’ve already lost sponsors and countless fans, I realize that the joke is really on me, and I’ve learned a valuable lesson.”
The 2015 NFL MVP closed his video by once again apologizing to women all over the world and pleaded with his fans not to be like him.
“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,” Newton said.
“To the reporters, to the journalists, to the moms, supermoms, 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.”
It was a thoughtful and sincere apology, and we hope that Newton has learned how inappropriate his comments were.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images