I’m a Jets fan and I know that the Jets embarrassed themselves royally this week. If there was ever a time head coach Rex Ryan needed to say something loud, it’s right now.
I’m not referring to quarterback Mark Sanchez’s paltry 74 passing yards. I’m not referring to the team’s 125 penalty yards. I’m not referring to tight end Dustin Keller’s incredibly idiotic move to forget to run past the first down marker on fourth-and-10 to end the game.
I am referring to the Jets’ treatment of TV Azteca reporter Ines Sainz.
The Jets are under fire from women’s rights groups across the nation because of how they treated Sainz when she visited the Jets practice facility and interviewed Sanchez in the locker room. Jets coaches were reportedly throwing footballs in Sainz’s direction during drills so players could get a closer look at her. When Sainz was interviewing Sanchez in the locker room, the Jets players alledgedly catcalled and whistled at her.
Sainz did nothing to provoke these actions. She was dressed professionally and acting in a professional capacity.
And so what if she fills out a collared shirt and a pair of jeans? At that moment, when she was reporting from the New York Jets locker room, the team shouldn’t have called attention to her looks. They should have treated her like a professional. (https://cozumelparks.com/)
Now, the Jets did apologize for the issue and are holding an awareness session with the team to prevent it from happening again. Still, sexual harassment has been a problem for much too long in professional sports. The most famous incident came when multiple New England Patriots players harassed Lisa Olson during the 1990 season, which led to the Patriots organization and the players involved in the harassment getting fined.
Before the NFL even reacted, people actually spoke up in defense of the Jets, saying that Sainz should have expected to be treated the way she was because she was in a “TEAM LOCKERROOM,” as Arizona Cardinals defensive end Darnell Dockett eloquently explained on Twitter.
Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis took it one step further, D.C. Sports reported.
“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 on the Mike Wise Show, on Tuesday Sept. 14. “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.” Portis obviously has apologized for his comment. But his words reveal the “men only” mindset that often dominates professional sports.
The reality of the situation is simple: the wide world of sports is not a men’s club, and it hasn’t been for a while. It has been, is now, and will be a public event.
The Jets, whether they like it or not (or deserve it or not, but that’s another story), are public figures. They had their own television program on HBO. No team has had as much offseason press—good or bad—as they have.
With that publicity comes an enormous amount of responsibility. The Jets have the responsibility to be professionals, and to treat other professionals as such.
Ines Sainz was not a beautiful woman when she entered the Jets practice facility. She was a reporter. She was a professional. She deserved to be treated as one.
