Jon Gruden has resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after a report that he had been caught on tape using an anti-Semitic slur.
Jon Gruden is the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. He resigned after a report that he was anti-Semitic.
Following allegations that emails he sent over a 10-year span included racist, sexist, and anti-gay rhetoric, Jon Gruden resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
In a statement released Monday night, Gruden stated, “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction.” “Thank you to everyone of Raider Nation’s players, coaches, staff, and fans. I’m sorry if I offended anybody; it was never my intention.”
Raiders owner Marc Davis issued a brief statement acknowledging Gruden’s departure. According to ESPN’s Suzy Kolber, assistant coach Rich Bisaccia is likely to take over as the team’s temporary head coach.
Gruden resigned after The New York Times revealed that he used sexist and anti-gay language in several emails over a seven-year period. That news came just days after Gruden’s 10-year-old emails emerged, including a racial remark against NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and a nasty critique of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
According to The New York Times, Gruden wrote emails to Bruce Allen, the Washington Football Team’s president at the time, and others during a seven-year span that concluded in 2018.
According to The New York Times, Gruden wrote Allen, saying that Goodell should not have pushed then-Rams coach Jeff Fisher to select “queers,” a reference to former defensive end Michael Sam, a homosexual player chosen in 2014. According to the New York Times, Gruden used an anti-gay slur in multiple occasions when referring to Goodell, as well as derogatory language to characterize certain league owners, coaches, and media people.
Gruden was the main commentator for Monday Night Football for ESPN at the time he sent the emails that are now being investigated.
“Under any situation, the remarks are obviously disgusting,” ESPN stated in a statement.
Gruden’s emails also included strong language directed at a few club owners engaged in the 2011 labor dispute that resulted in a lockout.
The Wall Street Journal claimed on Friday that Gruden stated Smith had “lips the size of michellin tires” in an email to Allen, and that the publication had seen the email in issue.
According to ESPN, Gruden used the phrase “rubber lips” to describe to a player who “can’t spit it out” when caught lying.
“I’m sorry I offended De Smith. When I used it, I never had a racist notion “ESPN quoted Gruden as saying. “What’s out there makes me feel ashamed. I definitely didn’t intend for it to come out that way.”
According to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, the emails surfaced during the NFL’s inquiry into workplace misbehavior with Washington, when “the league was notified of the presence of emails that highlighted concerns outside the scope of that investigation.” The content of over 650,000 emails was examined by senior league officials, including the one sent by Gruden to Allen, according to the Journal. The NFL sent relevant correspondence to the Raiders for their assessment.
Gruden, 58, was hired as the Raiders’ head coach in 2018, signing a 10-year deal for an estimated $100 million.
After coaching the Raiders from 1998 to 2001, Gruden finished 22-31 this time around, with the team off to a 3-2 start. In Super Bowl XXXVII, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who defeated his old club. Since then, the Raiders have only had one winning season and one trip in the playoffs, both in 2016.
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