Veteran Sports Columnist Believes IndyStar Reporter Should Threaten to Quit After Punishment for Caitlyn Clark Incident

Miami Herald sports columnist Greg Cote believes that Gregg Doyel was punished too harshly for his awkward interaction with Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

Doyel, a reporter for IndyStar, gained notoriety following Clark’s introductory press conference with the team. After a wave of internet backlash, he published a column that seemingly made things even worse for him. Last week, it was reported that IndyStar suspended him for two weeks. Even when he returns, he won’t be allowed to cover the Fever in person this season.

Gregg Doyel has stopped complaining about Dan Hurley and has now shifted to being weird towards Caitlin Clark pic.twitter.com/PiF88hVeE3

— Jack McGuire (@JackMacCFB) April 17, 2024

Speaking on The Dan Le Batard Show, Cote claimed he would have threatened to quit if he were in Doyel’s situation.

“What he did was cringeworthy,” Cote said. “It was sexist. It was creepy. It was juvenile. He deserved to be suspended for a couple of weeks. He deserved that; but I don’t believe what he did was a journalistic felony. I believe it was a dumb misdemeanor; but it’s a felonious penalty when you tell the lead columnist in a city welcoming its new big star that he can’t write about her indefinitely. I wouldn’t stand for that. If the Miami Herald tried to tell me that and the role was reversed, I would use whatever leverage I had to say, ‘That’s not standing with me.’ You need to threaten to quit. You need to make a mess of this if you need to.”

Le Batard was stunned by Cote’s stance.

“You think that’s a good idea?” Le Batard asked. “Are you crazy? You would threaten to quit the newspaper?”

Cote stood firm.

“Yes,” he responded. “They can’t tell me what I can cover and what I can’t cover because I misspoke at an introductory press conference.”

Watch above via The Dan Le Batard Show