The Panthers, by all appearances, will be doing nothing about Cam Newton’s sexist remark from Wednesday -- beyond calling it a “mistake.”
And, yes, Cam did make a mistake. He mistaken provided everyone with a peek at his true views on gender equality.
No one who truly believes that the genders are equal, particularly in the field of sports reporting, would even entertain the possibility that it’s “funny” or in any way unusual to hear a female asking a technical football question. Whether Newton was trying to be funny or folksy or whatever, the mistake came when his internal filter kept his true feelings from slipping through his brain to his vocal cords and out of his mouth.
As one league insider noted on Thursday, Cam tends to let his guard down when he feels like things are going well for him. And so, three days after running his career record against Tom Brady and the Patriots to 2-0, Cam tripped over his own feet through an extemporaneous comment that he probably wouldn’t have made if he wasn’t feeling pretty damn good in general.
The next chapter in this story comes on Sunday, when Newton heads to the podium after the game against the Lions and inevitably is asked why he said what he said. And how he deals with those questions will be the final punctuation on one of the most bizarre press-conference moments in recent sports history.