Jessica Mendoza is analyzing Major League Baseball games on ESPN, Beth Mowins is calling N.F.L. games for CBS, and Doris Burke is part of the broadcast team for N.B.A. games on ESPN. But to Cam Newton, the quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, a female reporter getting into the nitty-gritty of a football game is apparently still surprising.
Newton, who won the 2015 N.F.L. Most Valuable Player Award, is known for outlandish outfits at news conferences and for having a personality that can go from charming to prickly in an instant. During his news media availability on Wednesday, he stirred up controversy when Jourdan Rodrigue, who covers the Panthers for The Charlotte Observer, asked Newton about the route running of receiver Devin Funchess.