Why do NFL players get a pass at sexual harassment?

Over the past weekend, some New York Jets players apparently harassed female reporter Ines Sainz during practice and in the locker room. To what extent, we really don't know since Sains has been less than forthcoming about what happened, but apparently during practice, players were "accidently" running into her on so they could make contact, and then making some comments again in the locker room. We don't know for sure exactly what happened yet, but it sounds like it was inappropriate -- and, in many places, it would be considered sexual harassment.

Yet I've heard and seen countless amount of men make excuses for the Jets players. I've heard "what do you expect when an attractive female reporter wears tight clothes like that around testosterone driven men?" Or "clearly she wants the attention or she wouldn't dress like that. She got what she deserved." Then there's Washington Redskins runningback Clinton Portis's remarks that female reporters are in there check out all the men's packages. Everyone assumes that the female reporter got what she wanted or deserved and the boys were being boys just having a good time.

If men committed these acts in any other profession, there's no question they'd be fired, but because these guys play a sport and make millions of dollars, people think they should get away with it? They need to show restraint like any other males in a work setting. Just because they're so-called "testosterone driven" men doesn't give them a free pass to sexually harass a female reporter. They need to act no different in a locker room than the rest of us would in an office or wherever we work. The female reporter is there to do her job -- she's not there to check out the size of your package or eye you up. A woman can want to look attractive without wanting men to harass while she's doing her job. Just because she wants to look good (she is going to be on TV, after all) doesn't mean she wants men to run intentionally into her to make contact and then make crude comments afterward. To say she deserved it for dressing the way she does follows the same logic as the Taliban uses when they blame women for getting raped because they weren't fully covered or their ankles were shown. Since when is it okay to blame the victim? I don't care if she was wearing a bikini or a burka, professional athletes need to act like professionals in any other workplace and show restraint. In no setting is it okay for professionals to act like the Jets players did to another professional of the opposite sex, and Roger Goodell and the NFL needs to make an example out of the Jets and fine them.