Nina Richardson on Carolina QB, situation

 Sports writer Nina Richardson has covered a certain Carolina football team and she remembers what happened when then starting quarterback Cody Cameron called her sweetheart at a press conference.

Nina Richardson was pissed. The sportswriter had never felt more disrespected or more angry in her career. Did this quarterback just call her sweetheart in the middle of a press conference? Her male colleagues chuckled and tried to hide it behind coughs. Nina gritted her teeth and fought the urge to roll her eyes.

Be the professional, she told herself as she looked at his garish outfit. They weren’t in some nightclub; she was doing her damned job and he dismissed her question about his poor play and three interceptions with a sexist quip.

“Sweetheart, I’m going to get a suggestion box and put it outside this door and I want your suggestions about my route accuracy to be in there.”

Nina’s mouth dropped. Oh, I have a suggestion. You might consider not mixing plaids and stripes, because not only do you look like a clown, your current QB passer rating suggests you have the brains of one as well. And I don’t give a damn that it’s preseason.

“Any other questions?” the media relations representative asked, then ushered the quarterback from behind the podium. Nina seethed as she and the other reporters headed out of the meeting room. Part of her wished she could’ve said everything on her mind about that overgrown child. August was too soon for the bull. There was a lot of football to get through before the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl.

“I was surprised when the team brought Cody back,” Nina said on a recent podcast. “And, let’s be frank, when he got cut he said he had a lot to prove and he went to a Boston team where he proved he wasn’t as good as he thought he was.”

“Nina,” host Del Wright laughed. “You just don’t like that man because of sweetheart gate.”

You could hear Nina shift in her seat and sigh. “Let me say this, you know that it’s hard for Black women to get respect or be taken seriously in sports media. So what if I win awards and know the game better than 85 percent of my colleagues? When a then superstar throws that kind of shade at you on national TV, it can impact your career. But as the old saying goes, the ball don’t lie. Since his return four passing touchdowns and five interceptions says it all.”

Del let out a low whistle. “Can’t argue with the facts. Do you think he’ll hang it up after this season?”

Nina paused. “Do I think he’ll hang it up, no. Do I think he should? Absolutely. He can go back to eating cereal on the sofa. Or maybe a judge on Project Runway.”

“And on that note, we’re out. Nina, thanks for coming to visit with us today.”

“Anytime.”

Read Nina’s story and meet the Richardson Sisters for .99 in Owner of A Broken Heart