Cam Newton
Cam Newton, pictured August 31, 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina, was shocked that a female reporter knew what passing routes were. Getty Images

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton came under fire Wednesday after laughing at a female reporter's question during a press conference. Jourdan Rodrigue, a Carolina Panther's beat writer for the Charlotte Observer, asked the professional footballer about pass routes. Newtown, however, was seemingly stunned that a female had knowledge of sports jargon.

"I know you take a lot of pride in seeing your receivers play well," Rodrique said to Newton. "Devin Funchess has seemed to really embrace the physicality of his routes and getting those extra yards. Does that give you a little bit of enjoyment to see him truck-sticking people?"

Before responding to Rodqique's question, Newton said, "It's funny to hear a female talk about routes like that. It's funny."

Newton took to Twitter to respond.

"I don't think it's 'funny' to be a female and talk about routes,'" Rodrique wrote. "I think it's my job."

Rodrique, in a response to another user, alleged that Newton's comments outside of the clip were much worse.

"I spoke with him after and it was worse," she said. "I chose not to share because I have an actual job to do today and one he will not keep me from."

A press representative for Cam Newton did not immediately return International Business Times' request for comment.

Newton's comments attracted criticism from many on Twitter, including those who work within the NFL realm. The backlash made the famed quarterback a top trending topic on the social media website Wednesday.

Several female sports reporters spoke out against Newton's remarks. Many echoed reporter Andrea Adelson's comments, which argued: "Every female sports reporter has encountered a neanderthal like Cam Newton over the course of her career."

"Ladies — do not feel forced into defending our sports knowledge," Laura Okmin, a sports broadcaster, wrote in a tweet. "This is on Cam Newton — NOT ON US. Unacceptable in 2017 to go back to this."

ESPN reporter Katherine Terrell also claimed Newton's "being condescending to a reporter doing her job."

Other sports reporters came to Rodrique's defense.

Some used Newton's remarks as an opportunity to poke fun at the professional athlete.

"Almost every female game reporter has experienced sexism in the locker room, both at the hands of team members and fellow journalists," reporter Isobel Markham wrote for The Daily Beast in 2013. "Follow any sports game or broadcast on Twitter that involves a female sports journalist and among the genuine commentary you’ll find a slew of inappropriate remarks, some approaching the obscene."

Sexism also targets female athletes. Journalists came under fire during the 2016 Olympics for making sexist remarks about female contestants, including an NBC commentator giving Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszú's husband credit for her win.

RELATED STORIES
National Football League