NFL star Cam Newton apologises for sexist comments made to a female beat reporter

The Panthers quarterback has already lost a sponsor and posted a contrite apology to Twitter

Cam Newton apologised via a video posted to Twitter (Twitter/@cameronnewton)

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton finally apologised for making a degrading comment to a female reporter - though not before losing a lucrative endorsement deal for his remarks.

Newton was dropped by sponsor Dannon for the incident when he was asked a question by reporter Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer and smirked before saying: "it's funny to hear a female talk about routes."

He later used Twitter to post a video apology.

"After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women," Newton said. "If you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologise to you.

"What I said was unacceptable.

"I'm a father to two beautiful daughters, and at their age I try to instill in them that they can do and be anything that they want to be.

"During this whole process I've already lost sponsors and countless fans, I realise that the joke was really on me. And I've learned a valuable lesson from this.

"I sincerely apologise and hope you can find the kindness in your heart to forgive me."