In a press conference after an upset win over the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton answered questions like a normal day. However, once Jourdan Rodrigue, a Panthers beat reporter from "The Charlotte Observer" asked about routes, things changed from the norm.

“It’s funny to hear a woman talk about routes. It’s funny.”

Newton laughed with a smug face about the fact that a woman was asking him a question about routes, something that must come up many times on a weekly basis.

This caused controversy once word spread around. Newton was dropped by some sponsors, including Dannon.

From what I’ve heard and seen on social media, it seems many people were upset about these comments. I am one of these people, and Newton’s words affect me directly.

Since the day I was born, I have grown up in a sports world. With sports constantly on in my house, I fell in love with hockey and football. I watched all the games with my dad, and could even name every player and their number for the Lightning when I was seven years old.

I realized in middle school that I wanted to become a sports journalist when I grew up. I have looked up to Erin Andrews, and hope to reach my dreams after I graduate college. So when I hear Cam Newton, arguably one of the “superstars” of the NFL, undermine women, and women in the sports world, I question why Cam would say something like that for the world to hear.

I will say that Cam is not the first person to have sexist comments when it comes to sports. Last year, I wrote for the sports section of my school’s newspaper. With this, came an amazing opportunity to cover March Madness in Greenville. I began to follow NCAA basketball religiously and was beyond excited to go to the tournament in March.

Come March, I walked into Bon Secours Wellness Arena, picked up my fancy press badge, and my heart began to race as we walked downstairs and saw the mass of journalists around us. However, almost immediately, all eyes were us. Maybe it was because we looked very young, but maybe it was because there were two women in our group. People wouldn’t give us more than a glance and went on with their work.

Despite some of the confused looks as we walked by, I was able to sit and listen to legends like Coach K and Coach Roy Williams talk about their teams in press conferences. This atmosphere was similar to any other press conference, including Cam Newton’s. I asked questions to these coaches and some players, and no one looked as if I had done something wrong. No one thought it was strange if I was asking a more complex question, that maybe most girls wouldn’t understand. So why does Cam Newton, who I’m sure has had plenty of questions from women reporters in his career, think it’s funny a woman is asking him a question? Are women not supposed to know anything about sports?

At times I have been undermined when it comes to sports. Any fact I give, any opinion I have, is just wrong in some men’s minds. I understand that this is the price I have to pay as I go on in my career, and I’m ready to prove them all wrong. I watch every Bucs game, every Lightning game when I have a chance, and I have three fantasy teams, two in a league solely made up of men. But the single fact that I’m a woman, or that any sports reporter is a woman, shouldn’t determine how well we can cover sports.

Cam Newton gave an apology after all of the backlash he received due to his sexist comments.

"After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women," Newton said. "And to be honest, that was not my intention. If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you.”

Newton posted the video on Twitter, with the same smug face he had in the press conference. While his words were apologetic, his body language and facial expressions did not seem to match the tone that was needed for such a serious statement.

Jourdan Rodrigue and any woman at a press conference for that matter knows what she is doing. She has a job in sports, she worked her way up, she knows what a route is. There is no need to immediately discredit a woman, no matter what the situation is.

Is it funny now Cam?