After being hired in 2018, Jon Gruden has resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following racist, homophobic, and misogynistic comments contained in emails he sent.
On Monday night, coach Gary Kubiak announced his resignation from the Las Vegas Raiders: “I will no longer be their head coach.”. My love for the Raiders and not wanting to bring any distractions to the team motivated me. All of the Raider players, coaches, staff, and fans deserve our gratitude. Please accept my apology; I never meant to hurt anyone.”
According to The New York Times, Gruden often used homophobic and misogynistic remarks towards NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and others during his tenure.
In the interim, Rich Bisaccia will be the special teams coach and assistant to the head coach.
The rapid demise of Gruden, who is in the fourth year of a 10-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Raiders in 2018, was swift. It all began on Friday with a report in the Wall Street Journal alleging that former Washington executive Bruce Allen and NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith used a racist term in a 2011 email.
Among other issues, Gruden denounced the drafting of a gay player and said players would not protest during the national anthem with these emails discovered amid a workplace misconduct investigation into the Washington Football Team.
In 2011, Gruden was frustrated by the lockout, which led to “insensitive remarks” about Smith. Gruden apologized for the remarks. Gruden was an ESPN analyst from 2011 to 2018, and the emails he sent during that time show his use of derogatory language went much further than that.
According to a league source, emails sent to the Raiders last week confirm the accuracy of the emails. As the email chain has not been made public, the person spoke on condition of anonymity.
Davis said the Raiders were reviewing the latest email about Smith, commenting that it was “disturbing and not what the team stands for.” The Raiders are checking the additional emails, the owner said. The only statement Davis released Monday was accepting Gruden’s resignation.
As reported by The New York Times, Gruden called Goodell “clueless” and “anti-football. A second charge pinned on Goodell is that he pressured the Rams into drafting “queers,” which is how Michael Sam, the first openly gay player taken by a team in the NFL, was drafted.
Former Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first openly gay player to appear in an NFL game when he came out last month.
“Nice job, Roger,” Gruden said in response to a sexist meme showing a woman official, according to a 2017 email obtained by the Times.
According to the paper, Gruden also blasted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for attempting to reduce concussions. He also slammed Eric Reid, a player who protested during the playing of the national anthem.
It reported that Gruden also mocked an article Goodell published last year, in which players asked the commissioner to support their efforts to promote racial equality.
The concussion protocol tent is where he should hide, Gruden wrote.
The pair have been working together for a long time, both in Oakland and Tampa Bay. Two cheerleaders from the Washington team in an email with other men who wore only bikini bottoms.
In comparing President Obama to then-vice president Joe Biden, Gruden also criticized President Barack Obama during his 2012 re-election campaign.
Gruden responded to Smith earlier Monday, telling him that the email is proof that the fight against racism continues.
However, the story is not about what we discussed in private; it’s about what other people are saying and how they might be held accountable for their words,” Smith wrote in a Twitter thread.
The NFL players’ lockout of 2011 led to Gruden’s comments about Smith to Allen. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Gorden said he wasn’t confident about the union’s direction because of the lockout during labor negotiations.
