Jon Gruden, former NFL Las Vegas Raiders head coach, resigned on Oct. 11 after years of racist, misogynistic and anti-gay emails were exposed.
His resignation was necessary given his poor treatment of colleagues and NFL players but why did it take this long for these emails to come to light?
Gruden coached the Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001, long before the team moved to its new Las Vegas stadium on Jan. 22, according to an Oct. 11 ESPN article.
He also worked as a sports analyst on Monday Night Football, a live TV broadcast for ESPN of weekly NFL games, from 2009-18, during which many of his controversial emails were sent, according to the ESPN article.
In 2018, Gruden returned for a 10-year record deal for $100 million as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach, according to the same article.
The Raiders believed Gruden would recapture his glory days from the early 2000s.
Thinking a white man is a good fit for head coach after priding themselves as an inclusive and diverse team, is ironic.
In an Oct. 11 statement, Gruden said “Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”
While Gruden praised a healthy locker room environment to his players, he was creating the opposite.
His prejudiced comments were discovered during the NFL’s investigation into workplace misconduct with the Washington Football Team, where NFL senior league executives reviewed more than 650,000 emails, according to an Oct. 11 ESPN article.
Gruden made racist remarks in an email to Bruce Allen, then the president of the Washington Football Team, about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, referring to the size of his lips as “rubber lips” and “lips the size of michelin tires,” according to the Oct. 11 ESPN article.
Allen served as the Washington Football Team’s president for seven years until he left in 2018.
Gruden’s excuse was that he routinely used the term “rubber lips” to “refer to a guy I catch lying,” according to the Oct. 11 ESPN article.
Regardless of what Gruden says, there’s no excuse for making such a comment.
As for his remarks about LGBTQ+ NFL players, it doesn’t get any better.
Gruden sent another email to Allen saying NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell shouldn’t have pressured former St. Louis Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “queers,” referring to former defensive end Michael Sam, an openly gay player drafted in 2014, according to the Oct. 11 ESPN article.
Sam was the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL, according to a June 22 Washington Post article.
The fact that all these exchanges between Gruden and Allen remained buried for years should raise red flags as to what other secrets or wrongdoings occurred between them and what else has been pushed under the rug.
With the Raiders’ rich history of inclusivity, it is not just a step in the wrong direction, it’s disgraceful to even consider Gruden a part of the team.
In 1989, the Raiders hired Art Shell, the first Black head coach in the NFL league.
In 1968, Eldridge Dickey became the first Black quarterback to be selected in the first round of a professional football draft for the Raiders.
Tom Flores, the first Latino head coach in NFL history and future Hall of Famer, led the Raiders to victories in Super Bowl XV and XVIII.
Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as the first active openly gay NFL player in the 2021 off-season.
“I just think that representation and visibility are so important,” Nassib told Yahoo Sports in its June 21 article. “I actually hope that one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are not necessary, but until then I will do my best to cultivate a culture that’s accepting and compassionate.”
Gruden’s actions are unjustifiable. For him to be in a position where he has to motivate and mentor players is a slap in the face to past and current minority team members.
Gruden’s actions show the uphill battle minority NFL players including Nassib still face.
When Nassib heard the news of Gruden’s hateful exchanges, he requested time off from the team, according to an Oct. 11 NBC Sports article.
In the same article, the Raiders general manager Mike Mayock told NBC Sports that “the team supports Nassib.”
The Raiders have work to do to mend the team’s spirits and to stand against racism and support LGBTQ+ players.
Team owner Mark Davis has moved in a different direction with Gruden’s resignation and promoted Rich Bisaccia, who will serve as interim head coach, according to an Oct. 13 Associated Press News article.
The NFL hasn’t given enough effort to be more inclusive and diverse, from allowing Michael Sam to be judged to letting former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick be blackballed by team owners because of his protests against U.S. police brutality.
As much of a shock it may come to the Raiders community, people should recognize Gruden’s exit as an opportunity to actually become a truly inclusive and safe team.
