A day after making sexist comments to Charlotte Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue, Cam Newton issued an apology Thursday night calling his words "degrading and disrespectful to women."

During a Wednesday press conference, Rodrigue asked the Panthers quarterback about wide receiver Devin Funchess' physical route-running. Newton began his answer by saying it was "funny to hear a female talk about routes."

On Saturday, the Panthers' tweeted out a photo of Newton boarding the team plane for Detroit. He was wearing a hat pin showing the working women from the World War II "We Can Do It" posters. These women were later referred to as "Rosie the Riveter," though as Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith points out, Rosie the Riveter was a separate cultural icon of the war who became conflated with the "We Can Do It" posters years later.

Either way, Newton's message was clear: He wanted to publicly support women and put the controversy behind him. It explains why he donned the pin again on Sunday morning as he made his way to Ford Field ahead of the Panthers-Lions game.

"After careful thought, I understand that my word choice was extremely degrading and disrespectful to women," Newton explained in his apology, which he posted to his social media accounts. "And to be honest, that was not my intentions. And if you are a person who took offense to what I said, I sincerely apologize to you. I'm a man who tries to be a positive role model to my community and tries to use my platform to inspire others. I take ownership to everything that comes with that. And what I did was extremely 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. And the fact that during this whole process, I've already lost sponsors and countless fans. I realize that the joke is really on me. And I've learned a valuable lesson from this. And to the young people who see this, I hope that you learn something from this as well. Don't be like me. Be better than me. And to the reporters to the journalists to the moms -- super moms -- to the daughters, the sisters, and the women all around the world, I sincerely apologize and hope you can find the kindness in your heart to forgive me. Thank you."

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Newton was initially stunned by the media's response to his remarks. Meanwhile, Panthers coach Ron Rivera conceded that Newton "made a mistake," and one of Newton's sponsors, Dannon Oikos, cut ties with the quarterback.