The NFLPA wants to put a stop to locker room interviews.
On Friday, the NFLPA released a statement saying the media’s allowance in locker rooms invades player privacy and makes players feel “uncomfortable.” It said it has tried to work with the NFL and Pro Football Writers of America over the last three years to move media interviews out of locker rooms, but has seen “little willingness to collaborate on a new solution.”
“This isn’t about limiting media access but about respecting players’ privacy and dignity,” the NFLPA said.
Statement on behalf of our Executive Committee regarding the locker room media policy. pic.twitter.com/Hn8LgzGDrU
— NFLPA (@NFLPA) October 4, 2024
The NFLPA’s statement comes on the heels of Cincinnati Bengals center and player representative Ted Karras denouncing the allowance of cameras in locker rooms to protect “the sanctity” of them.
“Each team is going to figure out a program to where we conduct our interviews outside of the locker room. This doesn’t bar you (the media) from the locker room — we can’t do that. But what we want to do is get cameras off guys in private moments in our locker room,” Karras said Thursday.
Karras called the locker room, “a private space,” adding he does not believe the hopeful rule change will affect game day.
Karras said the NFLPA has been discussing the removal of media in locker rooms since COVID-19, when no non-team players or personnel were allowed in locker rooms.
“What brought it to light was a couple guys naked on camera this year,” he said. “I know that’s happened a few times throughout the history of the league.”
According to the Pro Football Writers of America’s Media Access Policy, accredited media is allowed to enter the home and visiting locker rooms 10-15 minutes after an NFL game’s end for the “sole purpose of conducting interviews.”
“In the locker room, providing for player privacy is of paramount importance,” the PFWA Media Access Policy states, adding the home team must ensure the shower area for both teams is screened from view and each team is supplied with wrap-around towels or robes in addition to bath towels for postgame showers.
The PFWA policy states clubs are urged to take other measures for player privacy, including placing shorts in each locker or building individual locker curtains. A member from the each team’s communications staff also walks through the locker room and notifies players and coaches when the locker room is about to open to the media.
Former NFL tight end Benjamin Watson, who once served on the NFLPA Executive Committee, supported the proposition to remove media from such spaces on X.
“I never understood why a designated area was not sufficient to provide relevant content and respect privacy,” he said. “This move is long overdue.”
In the short term, the NFLPA encouraged each player to ask for interviews outside the locker room.
Baltimore Ravens cornerback and NFLPA co-alternate representative Marlon Humphrey did his interviews outside the locker room Wednesday, a decision he made on his own. After consulting with his teammate, Ravens offensive tackle and NFLPA representative Ronnie Stanley then took his media session outside the locker room Thursday.
(Photo: Matthew J. Lee / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
