Female Reporter Is Denied Access

A female reporter was barred from the Cincinnati locker room by Coach Sam Wyche after the Bengals’ 31-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.

Denise Tom of USA Today said she was told that the team would send any player she wanted to interview to meet with her outside the locker room at the Kingdome.

In comments made to Tim Smith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, Wyche admitted barring the woman from the locker room.

“Sam Wyche was not letting a woman into the locker room with all his players naked,” the coach said. “I am not doing that to these guys. I’m not doing it to their wives. . . . We gave her every courtesy we could extend. I even went to Boomer (Esiason) and asked him to come out and speak to her.”

The incident follows the controversy surrounding the New England Patriots and reporter Lisa Olson of the Boston Herald. Olson claims she was sexually harassed by several Patriot players while she was conducting an interview on Sept. 17.