Raiders Coach RESIGNS After Internal Investigation Finds Racist, Sexist, And Homophobic Emails

The emails were among a cache of 650,000 emails being examined in an NFL probe into the “workplace culture” of the Washington Football Team.

Jon Gruden resigned on Monday as the fallout from the content of his emails is being reported widely. Gruden is in the fourth year of a 10-year $100 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. The emails were written before he signed on with the Raiders in 2018.

Gruden, 58, released a statement Monday night, saying: ‘I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

‘I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.’

He stepped down after The New York Times reported that Gruden frequently used misogynistic and homophobic language directed at Commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the NFL.

It was a rapid downfall for Gruden, who is in the fourth year of a 10-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Raiders in 2018. It started on Friday when The Wall Street Journal reported that Gruden used a racist term to describe NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith in a 2011 email to former Washington executive Bruce Allen. Gruden was working as an ESPN analyst at the time.

The remaining $60 million on Gruden’s contract will be voided as a result of his resignation, The Athletic reports.
Source: Daily Mail

Gruden had addressed the controversy on the weekend and apologized:

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that in a 2011 email to former Redskins executive Bruce Allen, Gruden referred to NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith as “Dumboriss Smith” and said he had “lips the size of Michelin tires.”

Gruden said that the “insensitive remarks” about DeMaurice Smith were made as a result of frustration over the 2011 lockout.

Allen and Gruden have known each other for years and worked together in both Oakland and Tampa Bay.

On Monday, The New York Times reported that Gruden had included in an email that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was a “f****t” and that he was “clueless” and “anti-football.” Gruden also said that Goodell shouldn’t have pressured the Rams to draft “queers” — meaning Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the league.

Also included in the emails between Gruden and Allen were photos of women wearing only bikini bottoms, including one photo of two Washington team cheerleaders.

The photos are significant in the course of the investigation into “workplace culture.”

Complaints against the Washington club range from inappropriate comments to the creation of a semi-nude behind-the-scenes video from a cheerleader calendar shoot in 2008.

Other emails cited as “problematic” were ones where Gruden replied to a sexist meme of a female official by saying: “Nice job Roger [Goodell],” opined that players who kneel for the national anthem should be fired, 2012 criticism of then-President Barack Obama and calling then-Vice President Joe Biden a “clueless p***y.”

Losing his multi-million dollar contract over what he thought were private emails that are up to 10-year old seems a bit… excessive. Especially in a league that condones much worse from players. Just check out NFLArrest.com and you’ll see what the National Football League is willing to turn a blind eye to.

While conservatives shouldn’t be cheering on the “cancelation” or firing of anyone for years-old sentiments via email, it’s pretty clear that some of those comments are clearly inappropriate in 2021.

That last one about Biden, however… well, that seems to be spot on.