Naked NFL locker room incidents spark dramatic response from players
Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras has revealed that players being caught naked on camera is one of the reasons why the NFL wants to close locker rooms to the media.
On Friday, the NFL Players Association called for locker room interviews to be curbed. She said this was an invasion of players’ privacy and urged members to seek interviews outside the locker room during the week.
Reporters regularly mingle with players in the locker room on game days and practice days, putting members of the media in close contact with athletes thanks to media policies that the players’ association called “outdated.”
‘Players feel that locker room interviews violate their privacy and are uncomfortable. This is not about limiting access to the media, but about respecting the privacy and dignity of players,” the NFLPA said in a statement.
“We, the NFLPA Executive Committee, urge the NFL to make immediate changes to promote a more respectful and safer workplace for all players.”
Ted Karras has revealed that players being caught naked on camera is one of the reasons the NFL wants to close locker rooms to the media
Reporters regularly mingle with players in the locker room on game day and practice days
Earlier this week, Bengals star Karras explained that a number of players were caught naked while interviews were being recorded.
“As you’ve heard from a few teams now and the NFLPA is going to come out with a statement, in an effort to protect the sanctity of the locker room and the comfort of the players, each team is going to come up with a solution program where we will have our interviews out of the locker room,” said Karras, the team’s union representative.
‘This doesn’t lock you out of the dressing room. We can’t do that. But what we want to do is take cameras off guys in private moments in our locker room.
“What it actually brought to light was a few men who were naked on camera this year. It’s happened a few times in the history of the league.”
On Friday, Kyle Juszczyk called out a San Francisco 49ers reporter in a bizarre argument over locker room interviews.
The NFLPA did not name any specific journalists, but Juszczyk singled out reporter Grant Cohn — who covers San Francisco for Sports Illustrated — on social media.
Kyle Juszczyk called out a 49ers reporter in a bizarre altercation over locker room access
Juszczyk accused reporter Grant Cohn of ‘hanging out in our lockers while we change’
“Maybe we can make sure Grant Cohn doesn’t always hang around our lockers while we’re changing,” the 49ers fullback said.
“I’m starting to think some players on the 49ers don’t like me,” Cohn wrote on X, formerly Twitter, shortly afterwards. He then shared an article calling for the 49ers to sit Juszczyk, adding, “I stand by this.”
Two-time Super Bowl champion Torrey Smith, meanwhile, accused journalists of looking at players’ private parts.
“If you all only knew how clumsily some male reporters behave,” he further wrote social media.
The Pro Football Writers of America said in a statement: “NFL players asking to speak outside the locker room has always been part of the league’s media access policy.”
“We are continuing discussions with NFLPA executives regarding media access policies,” the statement said. “The goal is to make everyone feel comfortable in the locker room and for players and clubs to follow the NFL’s media policies.”