first female reporter in nfl locker room
Forty years ago today, "Sports Illustrated" and its reporter Melissa Ludtke took on Major League Baseball and won. But some paranoia lingers. I was quite confused. Ludtke said when About 1986, there was a college football convention in Dallas. But there were a few giggles. Fueled by my own version of a life-affirming experience, I felt as though I was taking back 10 years of my life. It was the last time I would ever try to interview Reggie. Well, when I finally exited the windy heat of the Texas summer and entered the sanctum of the little air-conditioned room for the press elevator, I fooled with my bangs, which were all over my head, tugged at my knee-length shorts, pressed the "up" button, and turned to the elderly gentleman in charge of checking passes, who was saying, "Jennifer, I saw your story in the Observer.". "Can I talk to you for a minute," I said. You get a really honest reaction, and thats what makes stories good. I seriously considered taking a job as a researcher for a law firm. "And I mean, you put a woman and you give her a choice of 53 athletes . Referring to the United States military's use of Patriot missiles during the then-ongoing Gulf War, Kiam said to the audience: "What do the Iraqis have in common with Lisa Olson? No one did or said anything off-color. Melissa Ludtke, then a writer for Sports Illustrated, is shown in her New York office in Januar 1978. Buying ball tickets to as many games as my dad and I wanted to see was out of the question, so we climbed the wall in the late innings or sat in those free grassy spots behind the Cyclone fence. On cue, all the players in the Jets locker room got up and they all had the word Gitte written on their asses, he says. One even said, "You know you don't have to do this work," in a tone that sounded like Sting telling Roxanne she didn't have to put on the red light. Of the latest scores and many to. Perhaps most importantly, the emphasis on real-time news gathering, be it through video or social media, puts athletes on their guard. Two Sundays ago, for example, Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh missed a last-second chip shot that would have likely advanced his team to the next round of the NFL playoffs. So while I'm asking him about his family's strawberry farm, I'm wondering if eggs have given him this nice, shiny coat or if he uses his wife's conditioner, and if so, what is it? SAGAL: He left the Reform Club, traveled around the world in 80 days, came back, ran up the steps, but he was not wearing a jacket and tie. All-Star Game in Montreal. The rumor was bogus, but it planted an idea. After five years as a sports reporter, she moved on to write about science and health, leaving the rest of the battle to Well, first of all, so now SAGAL: Describe your job. And I make a beeline for my guy that I'm going to interview, and I'm walking up toward him. It seems in those years I was the only writer who could converse with Julio Franco and Brian Downing. When a guy is naked, hes probably more honest than not.. Jennifer Briggs has covered the Texas Rangers, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Phillies, and Green Bay Packers. We drove to a mall in Santa Fe, and there were the boxes, taped, freshly shipped, in the front of the store. [4] Robert Perryman did the same while her back was turned. For years I was hopelessly mired in phone answering and score taking, watching as others in similar positions moved up and on. Sanchez is a media-savvy guy, so I figured he would be a nice ice-breaker. While all this was going on, I began helping out with Dallas Cowboys sidebar articles and weekend coverage of the Rangers. Indeed, locker room access is built into players collective bargaining agreements with the four major North American sports leagues. Covering major league baseball fulltime is my goal. SAGAL: Did somebody drop some profanity on you? And my rule will be I will only look at their eyebrows. SAGAL: That's what you do. Maybe McDonald's was hiring. I began to cry. Herman said she slowly convinced N.H.L. She is currently involved in a court case to allow women reporters in sports locker rooms. That seemed like such a dumb thing to say. Now, there are no F-bombs. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. My most innocent comments were greeted with sexual innuendo. Last night's trash still blows, even though people are sweeping all over the place. They were happy to oblige. She has covered sports stories in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Japan, China, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. I can look back now and see I was sunk early, my heart hopelessly immersed in a severely codependent relationship with a kids' game played by grown-ups. When the coveted Rangers beat came open, I was passed over. And blocked by virtue of being a woman Melissa Ludtke's landmark. Mortified, I pondered my attire (a baggy smock top and pants). But then Donna likes the men she meets at Baja. Needless to say, this was a must-listen from the jump. So, 35 years ago, Herman and another woman a Montreal radio reporter, Marcel St. Cyr gathered with other reporters after the game and walked in to conduct postgame interviews. He may be a tough guy, but when I talked with him, he was slathering a nice coconut lotion all over his chest and was very soft-spoken. I fully expected trouble. When a guy is naked, hes probably more honest than not. [6] The general manager of the team was fired. After a long game, while standing in the middle of the clubhouse waiting for someone to appear, I sometimes gaze off in one direction, the way you stare when you're bored and become transfixed on an object until your eyes cross and you snap back into the reality of car payments and cellulite. ", Because his reaction to my question was to begin raising his voice to say, "There's no time.". TAFOYA: All right, Daniel. The issue at hand was equal access to the players in the locker room for all reporters, regardless of their gender. The most puzzled responses to my job come from the friends and acquaintances in my personal life. All-Star Game in Montreal said, yes, female reporters Herman, then a 23-year-old reporter for The New York Times, had been trying for a year In 1973 she was hired as the New York Times' first female sports reporter. Once, after they'd let me try my hand at writing for a year or so, editors told me I'd never make a writer. Apparently this happened at the morning budget meeting where "My Life in the Locker Room" was discussed at great length. The players didn't know I'd grown up with games or that my best friends had usually been crude guys or that I could open a beer bottle with my incisors or that I liked to fish as much as they did. I walked over to the corner where two guys from my hometown had their lockers. I mean, we know a guy is probably happy to be a number-one draft choice, but what makes him real is how he is like or unlike us. I know they don't know what they're talking about. ' Herman said. Now, one of the first all-men gentlemen's clubs in America was the Schuylkill Fishing Company of Philadelphia, a club that played a minor role in Revolutionary history when what happened there? "I can't believe you are not in love with these men," she says, biting her cuticle. The reporters were covering the team's loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. SALIE: And so are these large, strong men in the best shape of their lives naked? And there, not 1,000 days after I had emerged from the darkness of the womb, hundreds of bright light bulbs made me squint as I watched the first half-inning of my life, the last three outs of a Spurs game. I was nervous the first time I entered the Rangers locker room, about seven years ago. He let me do it. An Ongoing Problem : Women Reporters Resent How They're Treated in the Locker Rooms By FRED LIEF Jan. 5, 1986 12 AM PT United Press International NEW YORK "If a reporter is duly and. After the game, he stood at the door of the locker room and told Visser, "There might be a naked boy in there, but I don't give a s___t." Before I could utter a word, he said, "Wait, let me rub it, it will get hard.". Its basically the same interview, over and over again, Islanders forward Anders Lee said Monday, taking off his pads in the corner of the locker room. I wasn't afraid of naked men. Her family were fervent sports fans. He remembered my chatting him up at lunch on Media Day, when I sat next to him and Brian Cushing and asked why the punt coverage was so porous with players not staying in their lanes, and how he was going to improve his turn over margin. Oh sure, little stuff happened, like the time one of the Oakland A's made a big point of standing next to me naked in the middle of the clubhouse or one of the Los Angeles Raiders chucked a set of shoulder pads at my butt. [1][3], After her graduation from college, she moved to the East Coast to attend graduate school, but she decided to pursue a career in sportswriting. A collage on the walls above them shows newspaper headlines and media coverage of famous victories, ringing the small dressing room like a halo. It was an area high school coach who routinely tried to get me to drop by his house when his wife was out of town; when I refused for the third time, he refused to provide any more than perfunctory answers to my story questions. But the road has been anything but smooth. Its a professional setting, and if the reporter is professional, the whole experience is smooth as silk. And theyre very conscious that everything they say could get out.. But the reality was, a newspaper did not have space for the words or freedom on the finer nuances of body-part language. I had to think as much about how to handle the next unwanted advance or suggestive quip as I did trying to figure the Mavericks' averages. It is one thing not to look at your notepad, but another not to be able to look straight ahead without a big clothesline of boy parts. The players were roaming around in towels or standing by their lockers speaking into digital recordersno one was smacking towels on butts, no one was making soap jokes. The best advice I ever got was go get a job somewhere. [4] The Herald's then owner, News Corporation, offered to transfer her to Sydney, Australia, where she worked for The Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald. A few feet in, I realized a hall ran in front of the showers. He'd pull me out of school at lunch once a year to go to the spring baseball luncheon and take me to games early so I could collect autographs. No one seems to know when the first female Equipment . When the day finally came that she would break down a huge professional barrier, Robin Herman did not have much time to prepare. And this was so long ago that the guy who opened the door said lady in the locker room. Chris Long on dynamic of naked players, reporters in locker rooms, New York Rangers fans took over the Wells Fargo Center and Im glad it happened, WATCH: Every pitch of Andrew Painters 1st inning vs. the Minnesota Twins, Eagles Buzz: CJ Gardner-Johnson rips Jonathan Gannon on Twitter for Super Bowl performance, Spring Training: Umpires end Orioles vs Pirates game early, but both teams wanted to finish, calling the game themselves, WATCH: Operation Flagship How D.C. Police Lured Wanted Criminals in for Arrest by Offering Super Bowl Tickets. What kind of a goob would they take me for if they knew? A, while he was gone, the club had viewed the classic Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch and decided Mr. Palin was too vulgar to be readmitted to the premises; B, he got back to London but couldn't be readmitted because he was poorly dressed; or C, he tried to drive himself to the club in central London but got lost? He might not understand that I meant its thickness and shine were enviable. TAFOYA: No, I always talk to them off camera because I can get more out of them, and then I come back after halftime, and I report to the audience what I've been told. She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the I think I may have actually gained some respect in various journalism and sports circles. Most of the men I've dated certainly don't know about the social fraying of America or why it might be at all amusing that a guy named Fujimori is in charge of Peru, so you'd certainly hope they knew some inane facts about NFL rushers. "You can't be in here now.". Hopefully we can ditch this weird practices permanently in 2022. The sexism row over a female sports reporter who was allegedly harassed in the New York Jets locker room was reignited last night after a Fox NFL analyst claimed she was 'asking for it.' Readmore, The Devils took Anthony Brodeur, an 18-year-old goalie, with the 208th pick of the 211-pick draft, sending their seventh-round pick in 2015 to the Kings in exchange for the chance to pick Brodeur. Sometimes we'd just watch any game on the TV. Cindy, who is dabbing brown goop on my roots, figures this is like when the seniors get all reactionary and vote in the ugliest girl for homecoming queen, and it just might happen on a bigger scale. She was drawn back into the controversy as other sports faced their women-in-the-locker-room moments most famously in the court case brought by Sports Illustrated so the reporter Melissa SAGAL: Or C, Benjamin Franklin became the first and only member thrown out because of his horrible morals? All of my male media brethren went cruising into this sacred place, and then, there was only methe lone female reporter covering a USC football gamewaiting outside. OK, pre-game festivities concluded, I went back up to the press box to start writing some pre-game sidebar. TAFOYA: So there I am, and I'm getting ready to go in, and this is the first time I've ever done this, and I'm just going to do some radio interviews for tape to take them back and turn them around, and I said to myself I had a rule I established before I went in. Women will kick up a fuss about men being in a women's locker room, and men should do the same with women. She was previously a sports columnist for the New York Daily News, and the first female sports columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald, where she covered rugby union, Australian rules football, cricket and rugby league. I began bicycling and training for a marathon. Affidavit Sample Administrative. Power your marketing strategy with perfectly branded videos to drive better ROI. The latter are supposed to be more humorous than the former, though adulthood has taught me different. Horse's Heinie on occasion, was watching a college football game in a chair in the middle of it allnaked. Men treated like animals yet again. Steam Food Of Industry. I asked forand receiveda transfer back to sports. Olson worked as a sports columnist for the Daily News for ten years. We've invited you here to play a game we're calling SAGAL: OK. Do they want to know if it's hard for him to keep his professionalism with his hand inserted in some babe's bodily cavityand whether it's scary? SAGAL: How do you talk about sports for five hours without boring yourself to death? I just wanted to cover sports. The New York Islanders arent shy about giving interviews in various stages of undress. TAFOYA: Well, you have to maneuver around that. Nudity rarely bothered me, but I prefer never to see Nolan Ryan in anything but Ranger white or bluejeans. I retreated back behind the door before anyone could see me. I walked away shaking his hand, wishing him luck and noticed my hand wasnt trembling anymore and I was oozing confidence. But the remarks still hurt. Point guards became my instant favorites for those early post-shower interviews. Girls in locker rooms are overrated. a matter of equity.. I said, "Raffy says you want to see me." A female reporter conducts post-game interviews with members of a men's soccer team in the locker room. And I got there, and she came out to stand next to me on the steps there, and she was wearing a very low-cut, and she was ginormous, and TAFOYA: and I couldn't even look at her eyebrows, I was too focused on TAFOYA: But I did offer to donate some yamakas. The NFL is condemning remarks made by Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis concerning female reporters in the locker room. He said I was loitering. Each time I stopped pacing, the clerk and guard started toward me. Were you a football fan growing up? Ludtke and Time Inc. filed a civil rights lawsuit months later. Someone tugging on topics and successful in the rockets were reportedly had heartbreaking moments that female reporter in nfl locker room. Couldn't you tell? I was creative and funny, but I just couldn't write, they'd concluded. The first time I saw The Best American Sports Writing, I wasn't anywhere near good enough a writer to gain entry into that elite company. After the initial averting of my eyes, I noticed a member of USCs staff naked as well, and it then occurred to me; after you see one naked butt, they all start to look the same. Mr. October, known to be Mr. SAGAL: B, according to the club rules, quote, "at the point in their menstrual cycle when they are least likely to attract bears," unquote. Theres a press area for that express purpose. I wanted to cry each time he said that. Television. It was at height of the womens movement, Herman said. Host virtual events and webinars to increase engagement and generate leads. Readmore, The Islanders sent Nino Niederreiter to Minnesota for Cal Clutterbuck, and took defenseman Ryan Pulock with the 15th over all pick in Sundays N.H.L. You're the sideline reporter. All she wanted was to be afforded the . I helped cover the team for the Associated Press. Tell Me When It's Over is an interview series in which we ask former athletes about the moment they. After criticism, Kiam apologized for the joke two days after he had told it. TAFOYA: Yeah, I used to much more so in the NBA, and that's quite something. It may have been his first night. As Jones talked to reporter Albert Breer about the "nitty-gritty" of his team's latest triumph, the locker room hinterland showed at least seven players in various forms of undress, ranging . I've been around long enough now that if they see me turn away, they probably know it isn't because I'm scared or intimidated. He was thrilled to get an interview, and was so polite and warm, I didnt realize he was wearing practically nothing while I spoke with him. He said he was 16. She was assigned to cover the Boston Bruins, the 1990 Super Bowl, and, beginning in the fall of 1990, the New England Patriots. In many ways, I had made a career choice when I walked through that locker room door. I can't remember the number of times I've picked up the phone in the sports department, answered some trivia question, and, when the answer didn't win the guy a bar bet, had the caller demand, "Put a man on this phone." Yet all the time I was still dreaming up stories to get me to the ball park. Guys just walk around naked, mostly, says Arizona Republic sports columnist Paola Boivin. I'll always remember that no one else laughed, for whatever reason, and that made me feel good. But it wouldn't be my last. done in the locker room, so equal access had to be granted. And his eyes got to be like the size of paper plates because what I didn't notice was that he was buck naked. TAFOYA: Let me tell you about my first time. many of her friends were going through similar, if much less public, struggles in fields like advertising and law and medicine. Phyllis George Brown, a former Miss America winner and the first female sportscaster to work at a major network, died on Thursday after complications from a blood disorder she had developed. I got in the car. SAGAL: And those pioneers were like, no, we're going, we're doing our job. But the most moving were the ones who said something along the lines of, "Well, I just want you to know, if I ever had anything to do with any of that, I'm sorry. Locker rooms are overrated. We got to Frank DeFord's comment at the end. She described the language used by players as "rude" and says she was "discomforted.". instantly became the news and television cameras swung to them. It was critical no one smelled fear or I'd lose respect from the get-go. Why? This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. I have one of the few jobs where the first thing people ask about is penises. And then you've got this woman who comes in to interview them, maybe with big hair and a short skirt too, depending on the humidity and what's off at the cleaners that day. This is not a matter that only pertains to the NFL, but to any sport in general especially the MLB. She had few female colleagues in sports media to lean on. If you get this one right, you will win. Definite double standard here . I dont really think about it. As one of the first female reporters to be allowed inside the NFL locker room, she has been a pioneer in her field. They picked threeCindy, because she was a perky cheerleader at the University of Texas at Arlington; Jamie, because she had modeling experience; and me, because I was a pest. Oh equality indeed. I wonder how these female reporters and staff would feel showering and changing with men in their locker room? Nope, in fact, I was invisible. Im at work! Build a site and generate income from purchases, subscriptions, and courses. I pushed open the door and gazed into the visitors' locker room, a big square chamber with locker cubicles lining its perimeter and tables and chairs scattered around the center. If he's uneasy, it's time to get out of the stirrups. ", I falter, and he complains, "Hey, I thought you said you knew sports.". And yes, he gave me a pat on the shoulder afterwards. August 12, 2011 / 12:24 PM It was the lonely thread that tied me to my game. Like the other night when I was interviewing Kenny Rogers after the game, and I just happened to notice he had really healthy-looking hair. TAFOYA: There's another joke there, but (unintelligible). SAGAL: Michele Tafoya, we're delighted to have you with us. In I went into the world of major testosterone, stinky athletic shoes, and wrinkled jerseys, and out I came a different person. He sure wished he'd taken it, he said in hindsight. But much of the early abuse came from the place I least expected itmy own paper. There were reporters all around the lobby of the downtown Hyatt, waiting for coaches to arrive after a golf game. teams to allow her and other women reporters access to athletes in the postgame locker room when, unexpectedly, the two coaches at the 1975 N.H.L. That did it; now they were ready to call the police. NFL Network Airs Interview With Naked Players In Background. Ludtke said she constantly reminded people that she never demanded to go in a locker room. That's before they tell me I don't have any business in the locker room. Bill, how did Michele do on our quiz? SAGAL: Actually, it was B with George Washington. Sports presenter Charlie Webster isn't surprised and explains what life is like for women who . The old Never let them see you sweat adage was thrown out the window and I was dripping angst from my brow. He remembered me. But the point is that you don't even think much about people being naked after a while, and unless you have some peculiar reason for remembering, you don't know who you have seen naked because they all kind of waltz in and out of the shower naked, just one wet butt covered with soap film after another. After several female sports reporters discussed the level of sexual harassment that they faced in the sports industry with Sports Illustrated in 2015, SI revisits the topic in 2017. Mired in phone answering and score taking, watching as others in similar positions moved up and on B... 'S comment at the morning budget meeting where `` my life [ 4 ] Robert Perryman the. Could get out law and medicine thing people ask about is penises shaking!, 2011 / 12:24 PM it was the lonely thread that tied me to my.! Be more humorous than the former, though adulthood has taught me different but the was... S loss to the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis [ 4 ] Robert Perryman the! To lean on that she never demanded to go in a locker room for all reporters, of... I mean, you put a woman melissa ludtke, then a writer for sports Illustrated, is shown her. Michele tafoya, we 're doing our job, `` Hey, realized! The MLB be updated or revised in the rockets were reportedly had heartbreaking moments female. Were enviable I know they do n't have any business in the room., this was going on, I pondered my attire ( a baggy smock top and pants ) open I! Trash still blows, even though people are sweeping all over the place least. 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