Portis apologizes for female reporter comments

You may or may not have heard about Inez Sainz from Azteca TV. Apparently, she went to do a story at the Jets’ facility and she got cat calls and other noises from some of the players. Well, it has re-raised the issue about the presence of women in locker rooms and Washington Redskins RB Clinton Portis couldn’t help but opine on the subject.

“You know man, I think you put women reporters in the locker room in positions 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 gonna tend to turn and look and want to say something to that woman,” Portis said in a radio interview. “For the woman, I think they make it so much that you can’t interact and you can’t be involved with athletes, you can’t talk to these guys, you can’t interact with these guys.”

Portis then went on to talk about how a female reporter couldn’t help but get turned on at the site of all that male junk running around.

Photo Caption: Holy hell.

“And I mean, 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 gonna want somebody. I don’t know what kind of woman won’t, if you get to go and look at 53 men’s packages. And you’re just sitting here, saying ‘Oh, none of this is attractive to me.’ I know you’re doing a job, but at the same time, the same way I’m gonna cut my eye if I see somebody worth talking to, I’m sure they do the same thing.”

The NFL has an equality policy that allows female reporters the same access as male reporters. We’re all for it, but we do think there is some truth to what Portis said. But, as long they don’t act on those perceived impulses, there isn’t a problem.

But, the Redskins obviously had a problem with it because Portis issues an apology.

“I was wrong to make the comments I did, and I apologize,” Portis said in a statement issued by the team, meaning that a PR guy wrote the quote and Portis may or may not have approved it. “I respect the job that all reporters do. It is a tough job and we all have to work and act in a professional manner. I understand and support the team on these issues.”

“The Washington Redskins have a clear and unambiguous policy about being professional on these issues and we will take the necessary steps to remind everyone about it,” Redskins spokesman Tony Wyllie said.

So there you have it.