After spending the offseason keeping a relatively low profile, Clinton Portis decided to chime in on the situation in New York, where Jets players are under scrutiny after a few players allegedly made catcalls at sideline reporter Ines Sainz.
Here’s what Portis said on his weekly radio appearance on 106.7 The Fan (via ESPN.com):
“I think you put women reporters in the locker room in position to see guys walking around naked, and you sit in the locker room with 53 guys, and all of the sudden you see a nice woman in the locker room, I think men are going to tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman,” Portis said in his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan.
“You put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes, somebody got to be appealing to her,” Portis said. “You know, somebody got to spark her interest, or she’s going to want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s [bodies]. … I know you’re doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I’m going to cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to, I’m sure they do the same thing.”
Quite frankly, I don’t disagree with anything Portis (who seemed to be talking more in generalities) said. I’m sure there is bound to be someone that a female reporter is going to be attracted to in a locker room. And after spending the majority of their time around male teammates, obviously some players are going to be attracted to her as well.
But that’s not really the point here. I get that boys will be boys, but you have to be careful. Even though football is a game, the NFL is still a business and when players are at practice, they’re at work. They should think of it as an office setting and therefore, should respect female reporters just as they would anyone else. It should be a business like atmosphere at all times.
Now, is that realistic? No, and I’m not naïve to think that players are going to be on their best behavior when a hot female reporter is around them. And throwing a couple of passes in her direction (which apparently is one of the things that the Jets players did) is one thing – that’s harmless. But it’s quite another if she was made to feel uncomfortable while she was on the job. That’s not right.
