NFL: Jets conduct toward reporter unprofessional
FILE - This Sept. 13, 2010, file photo shows Ines Sainz, a reporter for the Mexican... (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL chastised the New York Jets on Friday for unprofessional conduct but found no evidence that a female television reporter was "bumped, touched, brushed against or otherwise subjected to any physical contact" by any member of the team or coaching staff.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said while the "conduct of the Jets clearly should have been better" team owner Woody Johnson and his staff acted promptly to correct the situation that arose last weekend when TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz said she felt uncomfortable in the team's locker room.
Goodell said that, as a result of the incident, the league will implement a training program for all 32 teams on proper conduct in the workplace and that the program would be underwritten by Johnson, who personally apologized to Sainz.
The NFL came to its conclusion after interviewing 17 people who were present — including Sainz — when she visited practice on assignment for her Mexican TV network.
In a letter to Johnson, Goodell said that while "there seems little doubt that passes were thrown in Sainz's direction at last Saturday's practice, it is also clear that she was never bumped, touched, brushed against, or otherwise subjected to any physical contact by any player or coach.
"Sainz herself was unequivocal in saying both that no physical contact occurred, and that no player or other Jets staff member made any comment or gesture that could be construed as threatening, demeaning or offensive," he said.
Sainz said on her Twitter account last Saturday that she felt "very uncomfortable!" in the Jets' locker room, where a few players made catcalls as she waited with two male co-workers to interview quarterback Mark Sanchez, who is of Mexican descent.
"Of course you feel it when you are being stared at and when you are being spoken of in a certain way," Sainz told The Associated Press. "I opted to ignore it ... I tried to not even pay attention."
She tweeted in Spanish on Saturday night that she tried "not to look anywhere!!"
I'm going to quote the person on the news program where I first heard about this...
"Let me get this straight. So a woman, dressed like a hooker, walks into a men's locker room and is offended because she felt uncomfortable with them gawking at her?? And now the whole NFL has to undergo a training program on proper conduct?? What's wrong with this picture?" "Isn't this like punishing a shark for eating a fish that swam in front of it?"
MY 2 CENTS: Wouldn't it be a more sane thing to address one's attire as a reporter and have a basic dress code for a "professional" reporter? When did it become acceptable to dress like this in the public eye? I left the picture out because it was a too risque for me. This is why I can't even watch football live anymore. Personally, I like my eyes and want to keep them in place. Matthew 18:9. In order to not see things I prefer not to, I have to watch football games recorded. The cheerleader shots and Cialis/Viagra and the other inappropriate commercials with jiggling models can be skipped with the touch of a button. We must watch our eye gate very carefully. There will probably be a day soon when I will have to cut out everything on TV... it won't be missed much.
Come Jesus, SOON!
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