Vincent Frank
Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has not spoken much publicly since he was forced to resign in disgrace back in October of 2021 following an email scandal that painted him in a homophobic, misogynistic and racist light.
For the most part, Gruden has remained silent since the scandal broke. That changed on Tuesday when the Super Bowl-winning head coach spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Arkansas.
Gruden, 59, showed remorse for his comments from years ago while indicating that he hopes to get another chance in the NFL, claiming that forgiveness should play a role here.
“I’m ashamed about what has come about in these emails, and I’ll make no excuses for it. It’s shameful. But, I am a good person. I believe that. I go to church. I’ve been married for 31 years. I’ve got three great boys. I still love football. I’ve made some mistakes. But I don’t think anybody in here hasn’t. And I just ask for forgiveness and, hopefully, I get another shot.”
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden on email scandal, via ESPN
The allegations against Gruden stemmed from a broader NFL investigation into workplace misconduct allegations against the Washington Commanders with Gruden communicating via email with then-Washington President Bruce Allen. They span multiple years, starting back in 2011 when Gruden allegedly said that NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith has “lips the size of Michellin tires.”
From a NY Times report back in the fall of 2021.
“Gruden’s messages were sent to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Team, and others, while he was working for ESPN as a color analyst during ‘Monday Night Football,’ the sports network’s weekly prime-time telecast of N.F.L. games,” the scathing report read. “In the emails, Jon Gruden called the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, a ‘faggot’ and a ‘clueless anti football pussy’ and said that Goodell should not have pressured Jeff Fisher, then the coach of the Rams, to draft ‘queers,’ a reference to Michael Sam, a gay player chosen by the team in 2014.”
Jon Gruden’s comments and a potential return to the NFL
Gruden’s resignation came at a time when he was in the midst of a 10-year, $100 million contract with the Raiders after rejoining the organization following a lengthy hiatus.
For his part, Jon Gruden and his lawyers have since filed a lawsuit against the NFL, claiming tortious interference by Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL. In said lawsuit, Gruden’s camp claims that the league was in possession of the emails dating back to June of 2021. They were the only emails made public out 650,000 collected by the NFL in its investigation. A jury trial is possible here after a Nevada judge denied the NFL’s request for arbitration on the matter back in May.
What does this all mean? Gruden is likely going to be black-balled from the league regardless of the results of the trial. Not only were his comments inappropriate at a time when the NFL is attempting to get with the modern times, said suit pits Gruden against the league.
As for Gruden, he became visibly emotional during his remarks at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Tuesday while continuing to push back against certain narratives.
“I get a choked up, you know, because there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there right now,” Jon Gruden told the crowd. “What you read, what you hear, what you watch on TV. Hell, I worked at ESPN for nine years. I worked hard at that job. I don’t even want to watch the channel anymore because I don’t believe everything is true. And I know a lot of it is just trying to get people to watch. But I think we’ve got to get back to reality.”
Since becoming the heead coach of the then-Oakland Raiders back in 1998, Gruden has posted a 117-112 record as a head coach. He won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2002, one year after departing the Raiders’ organization.
Following an 11-year hiatus from the coaching ranks as he transitioned to a career in the media with ESPN, Jon Gruden returned to the Raiders back in 2018. He was largely unsuccessful in that second stint, posting a 22-31 record before resigning last October.
