NFL Coach Who Denied Being a Bigot is Proven to Be a Liar

Barely a day after denied being a racist, Jon Gruden has no resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after a series of racist, homophobic and sexist emails from the last decade were exposed by the New York Times.

Gruden initially came under scrutiny due to an email he sent while an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football.  In an email to Washington Football team president Bruce Allen, Gruden called the NFLPA's executive director DeMaurice Smith, "Dumborris Smith," and said that "he had lips the size of Michelin tires."  Smith is of African-American descent. 

Gruden apologized for the initial incident, and over the weekend it appeared that he would be able to ride out the initial wave of controversy.  However, things changed dramatically after Monday's NYT reported on a new batch of messages, which came into the league's possession during its investigation of the Washington Football team and included communications as recent as 2020.   The newly leaked emails revealed that Gruden casually and frequently used misogynistic and homophobic language” to denigrate his NFL peers in the years prior to joining the Raiders.  In the newly-revealed emails, Gruden took aim at NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, labeling him a “faggot” and a “clueless anti-football pussy”.  

Gruden, who in his Las Vegas position coached openly gay defensive end Carl Nassib, slammed Goodell for pressuring then-Rams coach Jeff Fisher into drafting “queers” — a reference to Michael Sam being selected in 2014.   Gruden also called for Eric Reid, a key character in the national anthem protests, to be fired.  On top of that, he reportedly questioned the league’s concussion protocols, and used offensive language to describe owners, coaches, and journalists in the league. 

Gruden also referred disparagingly to Joe Biden, calling him a "nervous clueless pussy," and ridiculed Caitlyn Jenner after she won ESPN's Arthur Ashe Courage award in 2015.  The NFL sent the newest batch of emails to the Raiders last week, who did not comment or act on them until after Sunday's game.  Interestingly, the NFL has not released (or leaked) any of the emails from 2018-2020 (after Gruden had been hired by the Raiders).