UPDATE: On Friday evening, Senator Joseph P. Cryan (D-Union) became the second New Jersey legislator to call for Rutgers athletics director Patrick Hobbs to resign.

Assemblyman John F. McKeon (D-Essex) called on Rutgers athletics director Patrick Hobbs to resign Friday over a profanity-laced tirade directed at an NJ Advance Media reporter earlier this week.

After NJ Advance Media contacted Rutgers Tuesday with questions about allegations of widespread abuse and misconduct in the university’s softball program, Hobbs called one of the reporters working on the story, berated him and said “You guys are f------ scum. Why should I help you people?”

Hobbs sent the reporter a text message an hour later to “apologize for my words.” He then added, “This narrative around RU being a place where abuse is tolerated is bull----. But it gets clicks.”

On Friday, McKeon said in a statement to NJ Advance Media: “it is in the best interest of the University that Mr. Hobbs tender his resignation.”

“Hobbs has been placed in a leadership role,” McKeon continued. “The profanity aside, the reason behind the tirade was to obfuscate and to discredit very serious allegations by student athletes and their families. This conduct is inappropriate on many levels, particularly by an educator vested with a significant responsibility of trust.”

McKeon also said “a free press is guaranteed by our constitution and has been the bedrock of our country’s principles.”

“I would have never imagined our nation would have a President who constantly vilifies and mocks the press for no reason beyond doing their jobs. The leaders in our state must be better than that.”

On Wednesday, NJ Advance Media published an investigation detailing widespread allegations of emotional and physical abuse in the Rutgers softball program under head coach Kristen Butler and her volunteer assistant coach husband Marcus Smith.

The report, detailed by seven former Rutgers players and five parents, included allegations Butler regularly punished the team with conditioning that left players crying, vomiting or collapsing, while Smith made several inappropriate comments, including boarding the team bus and telling the women it “smelled like period blood.”

Butler categorically denied all the allegations in a statement Wednesday.

The previous day, NJ Advance Media sent a list of questions regarding the allegations to Rutgers officials. A few hours later, Hobbs called one of the NJ Advance Media reporters working on the story and shouted profanities before hanging up.

“This is another scandal in a string of embarrassing episodes,” McKeon said. “While not all of Mr. Hobbs making, this needs to be looked at in the context of further besmirching the Rutgers University Athletic Department and as such the entire University.”

Rutgers president Robert Barchi also condemned Hobbs’ comments in a press release Thursday, saying “there is never a time when such language is acceptable.”

Barchi also ordered the university to open an independent investigation into the softball allegations.

Hobbs and Rutgers senior director of media relations Dory Devlin did not immediately respond to an email Friday seeking comment.

Hobbs apologized for the comments in a press release Thursday, saying “as a leader at Rutgers University and someone who should serve as a role model to our young men and women it was wrong for me to use the language that I did.''

“I apologized to the reporter but I owe an apology to the Rutgers community as well,” Hobbs continued. “It won’t happen again. The well-being of our student-athletes is always my first priority, and we will continue to be vigilant in addressing any concerns across all of our programs.”

Matthew Stanmyre may be reached at mstanmyre@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattStanmyre. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.