Getty ImagesNFL policy says that all credentialed media get access to the locker rooms after games. Someone working the Jaguars-Colts game in Indianapolis on Sunday violated that policy, keeping three female reporters out because of their gender.
Graham Watson of Yahoo Sports, Joey Chandler of the Tuscaloosa News and Katie McInerney of the Tulsa World all said someone working at the stadium kept them out of a locker room after the game. They were detained for a few minutes before a Jaguars staffer let them in.
“I have covered male sporting events all over the world and it took coming to Indianapolis to face my first gender discrimination,” Watson wrote on Twitter.
The name of the man who kept the women out of the locker room has not been released, but it’s incumbent on the Colts to make sure the people working at their stadium don’t discriminate. PFT has reached out to both the NFL and the Colts to request a comment; neither responded to our request.
Graham Watson is a blogger, not a reporter, and she she is awful at her job. One of the worst.
I wish it was surprising that this could happen in 2015 but, well, it’s Indiana.
In today’s world of political correctness if players are offended by the presence of reporters of the opposite gender than they should be excluded from the locker room. Privacy of the offended outweighs any claim of discrimination.
No one should be allowed into locker room after a game. Anyone else find it weird that they can’t even wait til they r dressed to interview these guys?
Launch the investigation! Cocaine Jim gets 6 games, and loses draft picks because he was generally aware that it was possible one of the guys he hired, then hired a guy, who hired a guy, who hired his uncle’s best friend’s cousin’s sexist son.
Watson? Who? maybe that’s why they didn’t let in this “journalist”
OK, someone made a bad call…but “gender discrimination?” Come on, girl.
Stupid rule.
#LockerRoomGate
Since the Colts have at least 10 home games every year and this problem does not seem to have occurred before, it is reasonable to consider that the man at the door was probably serving in that role for the first time and had not been trained/briefed properly on who to let in. I think stadium management who oversees the usher is most likely at fault. If the usher had never served in that role outside a locker room before, then it is understandable how he made the k is take he did.
I think they were held out because they work for the Tuscaloosa News and Tulsa World…
Seriously, some of the “security” on these locker rooms are guys old enough to have played with leather helmets….not exactly modern thinkers….Is anyone really surprised this happened?
Indianapolis, the 1990 Patriots and Lisa Olson are on line 1.
Cheaters
1st and 4th round draft pick would be about right!
They “detained” them for a few mins and that’s gender discrimination? Maybe they were giving the guys in the locker room time to get showered and dressed. Since that is what a locker room is for… If a female reporter walked in on a naked dude they’d be hollering sexual harrassme y.
Wow, detained for a few minutes so someone could double check, the humanity, the injustice.
Were they really kept out strictly because of their gender, or was there another legitimate reason and they just decided to play the gender card because that just is what people do in today’s world over everything?
Was it Bob Kravitz?
Well, it was Indiana…maybe allowing the women into the locker room violated the religious beliefs of the guy working the door, so you know, it’s okay.
It would be fun to pin this on Governor Pence, whose enlightened views on discrimination were made evident earlier this year, but that is unlikely…so it absolutely must have been Jim Irsay’s doing.
The employee was exhibiting gender discrimination?
Nah, just common sense …
PoliticalCorrectness has the world turned upside down …
Nothing wrong with that. They’re so many naked men in there. Female reporters should wait until the players are dressed approximately.Its not discrimination.Calm down
Sorry, and I’ll probably get hundreds of thumbs down for my comment, but I don’t believe women belong in men’s locker rooms. There must be a place where the players and the reporters can converse that isn’t so intimate. I’m a female and believe in equal rights, equal pay and all that, but let’s stop being over the top with this stuff.
Oh no. Some low paid fool detained them for a few minutes. The horror.
Will they eventually got in after a few minutes. Get over it and move on. I doubt you’ll hear male reporters make a big stink about not being able to watch female athletes get dress…oh the double standards we live in today.
Meanwhile I’m not allowed in the women’s locker room anywhere I go. Hey that’s gender discrimination!
Geez get over yourselves. Yeah it’s the men’s locker room and if they don’t want women in there that’s kind of their right.
“I have covered male sporting events all over the world”
So is that your way of saying you’ve been in men’s locker rooms all over the world?
take away a draft pick
intgegrity
It is not discrimination to keep women out of a room where grown men are showering and walking around in nothing but a towel. I submit this challenge to anyone who thinks otherwise: would male reporters be allowed to hang out in the locker room of he US Women’s soccer team after their matches as they walked around in nothing but towels and changing? I think not.
I don’t see it as discrimination. It’s common sense. Locker rooms are meant to be gender specific.
Grigson.
And by saying ‘detained’ you make it seem like they were rounded up and locked up somewhere for a while. Cmon man.
This should be a reasonable, measured discussion below…
Whoops!!!!!!!!!
If you read the full story it sounds like a an usher simply wasn’t aware of the policy, not that they were deliberately keeping women from entering the locker room. The one chick even says the usher asked around to make sure they were allowed.
The default policy for entry into any private area anywhere in the world is to deny everyone until they’re sure they are allowed in…this is a non-story.
TBH until some NFL locker room incidents a few years ago involving women reporters I didn’t even know they were allowed in. Normal locker room antics and behaviors would make 99% of the women I know feel incredibly uncomfortable.
Oh good grief
One of the most dysfunctional front offices in the NFL. Irsay must be taking direction from Donald Sterling.
But if it’s a woman’s sports league I can guarantee you the guy reporters are kept out until they’re all dressed. But that’s not gender discrimination is it? C’mon man. If the guys are still getting dressed, what’s wrong with keeping the women out until they’re done? Seriously this is stupid.
He just knew that the Colts players are intimidated by anyone with more testosterone than they have.
Good! Equal rights be damned. As if men should be allowed in women’s locker rooms? Politically correct with no common sense… How typical.
good, if i was a male reporter i would demand to cover the US Women’s National Soccer team.. i should be able to be in the locker room interviewing them while they’re undressing and coming out of the shower just like these female reporters in male locker rooms do
The article clearly states it was a “Jaguars staffer” then one of the reporters throws Indianapolis under the bus. Nice reporting work, ma’am.
How dare someone stopped these 3 ladies from seing a bunch of naked men?
They shouldn’t be allowed in- it’s a men’s locker room! It’s amazing what we call “discrimination” these days- this is just decency.
Are male reporters allowed into the US women’s soccer team’s locker room??
Nobody should be allowed in the locker room. If you want questions answered, go to the press conferences. End of discussion.
What do the players wives and girlfriends think about female reporters going into locker rooms while their men are naked?
Quote from Watson: “old, out-of-touch geezer”
Nothing like using ageism to make a point about discrimination. Stay classy Watson.
It appears to be the 1950s in the comments section.
Why do any reporters need to be in the locker rooms period? That is supposed to be the teams private space. Stadiums and practice/training facilities have separate media areas built specifically for conducting interviews, that’s the only place these reporters really need to be regardless of gender.
I concur. This whole “women in the male locker room” stuff is all about nothing. Ban reporters from locker rooms.
Irsay, dressed as an usher, explained that he has trouble meeting women and thought if he could somehow detain them….
His thoughts trailed off as the oxy took hold.
Keep all the reporters out of the locker rooms. Let the players attend to personal hygiene, get dressed, then meet in a separate room. Have teams make their Captains, and maybe a handful of other players, available to the media.
That pretty much sums up Indy, what a God-forsaken place to live….
Clearly a misunderstanding, but since this is America, we better overreact and call it “discrimination”. Someone will have to fired to put ” those who scream the loudest ” at ease.
I’m about as liberal as they come, but this sounds like a non story. Ignoring the fact that most likely it was a general mistake, I have to agree with others and wonder how many men are allowed in women’s locker rooms. This is sexism alright but against men. It brings to light the glaring double standards of todaya idiotic PC movement.
Delayed….not “kept out.”
Are male reporters allowed into the lingerie league locker rooms? I’m guessing not, gender discrimination!!!!!
Most likely a untrained employee. He likely didn’t know the policy. But let’s tar and feather him first before finding that out
First of all, it should be considered common sense to deny females access to male lockerrooms.
Second, where is the union on this issue? Why would they condone the NFL making their members parade around naked in front of the opposite sex? If that’s not a hostile working condition, I don’t know what is!
Two of the ladies were named Pat so the paranoid Colts probably thought they were spies from NE sent to steal their play sheets and plant electronic listening devices.
So it’s “modern thinking” to let female reporters into male locker rooms, but male reporters aren’t allowed into female locker rooms.
OK got it.
OMG, she is such a victim…way to take a stand, such a hero!…its like MLK Jr…and then her…not sure how she will go on. Sorry you missed the peep show lady. I would like the credentials for access to the cheerleaders locker room after the game…I’m so tired of being discriminated against!!
Women have no more business in a men’s locker room then men do in a women’s locker room.
I wouldn’t let two girls named Graham and Joey into the lockers either lmao.
So, the Colts are rats, cheaters, liars, criers, drug addicts, and sexists now. I’m sure I forgot a few.
It’s about time that women were not permitted in. They don’t belong in when guys are changing clothes and taking showers. That’s perverted. All media should be held out until they are cleaned up and dressed. Then they can ask questions only if the players want to talk. The locker room is a private retreat for the players only.
What would Victor Kiam say about this?
One of them made it worse by calling the guy a old geezer. If you are complaining about discrimination, at least be politically correct with your complaint lol
Are dudes allowed in a WNBA or women’s tennis locker room?
Yes we are all equal but male reporters are not allowed access after female athletes are showering, changing, etc, in the WNBA, woman’s soccer, tennis, and so on. So stop crying
Which begs the question Do men reports have access to Pro women changing rooms at anytime.
It’s about time that someone pointed out that the NFL’s policy probably violates sexual harassment law. Making employees undress in front of people they’d prefer not to is pretty obviously a hostile work environment. That’s part of why strippers are independent contractors rather than employees of the club where they work.
The whole business of allowing women into men’s changing rooms goes back to a 1970s case in NYC involving the Yankees. An activist local judge ruled in favor of a female reporter and since the ruling came in New York, it somehow became league policy in baseball and other sports. Of course sexual harassment law didn’t exist at the time so there was no balancing of interests.
The rest of the world considers the US policy weird and they do their interviews in what’s called “the mixed zone” outside the changing room. Sure, it means the goat of the game can hide but that’s life.
I despise the Colts but are you freaking kidding me? If the women are stopped from going into the locker room it’s probably because the guys are still naked if this was a women’s soccer match and a guy was stopped from going into the locker room while the women were changing he’d probably be arrested. Welcome to the land of political correctness and third wave feminism.
This is a player association item that all leagues need to address. No women in male locker rooms, no men in women locker rooms. Female reporters can be used for the post game conferences and the men do locker room duty. Problem solved. Figure it out.
funny when she said “detained for a few mins” .
Would they allow male reporters into a half naked female locker room???
“They “detained” them for a few mins and that’s gender discrimination?”
That would depend on whether males with press credentials were allowed in while the female reporters were stopped and therefore prevented from getting equal access (and equal opportunity to do their jobs). And it sounds like that’s what happened.
Anytime they’re letting press into the locker room, there shouldn’t be any difference in how men and women with proper credentials are treated.
I understand that the complainers were Graham Watson of Yahoo Sports and Joey Chandler of the Tuscaloosa News. The best way to demonstrate our disagreement with these ‘reporters’ is to ignore what they report and let their bosses know that. If you subscribe to the Tuscaloosa News, call the editor and tell him or her that you are cancelling your subscription because of the disparaging ageist comments made by their sports reporter Ms. Chandler. For Watson, she is just a blogger so complains about her comments to the Yahoo sports editor. Let their desire to sexually harass the players come at a price.