Jon Gruden Shameful of Vulgar Emails

Jon Gruden made his first public statement since emails that ended his NFL coaching career were revealed last month. At Arkansas football’s Little Rock Touch Club on Tuesday, the former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach expressed regret over the use of homophobic and misogynist language found within these emails and asked forgiveness from some of his black players that he has mentored over his long coaching career.

These offensive emails were discovered as part of an NFL investigation into Washington Commanders’ toxic work culture, during which Gruden sent vulgar and offensive emails to Bruce Allen, former president of Washington football team, as well as others. Gruden used offensive language about female genitalia while also calling Michael Sam a homosexual, using derogatory terms such as “f*gg*t” and referring to him as an anti football p*ssy; further criticizing league policies including hiring female referees and bashing players protesting during national anthem protests.

No one knows for certain who leaked the emails, though ESPN reported on Monday night suggested some powerful individuals within the NFL were responsible. According to this account, Roger Goodell and Daniel Snyder (owner of Washington football team) could both be suspects.

ESPN sources report that an employee in the organization leaked emails, possibly as part of an effort to damage Gruden’s reputation and that this leak has had serious negative repercussions for both Gruden and the league.

Gruden used racist language against NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, a black person. This occurred while working as the color analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football show at that time.

Gruden may be suing the NFL over his emails, but that does not negate his regret of their contents. At an appearance at Little Rock earlier this week he first addressed this topic, acknowledging he felt ashamed for making those statements and seeking forgiveness from those present.

There was a divided response from attendees at Gruden’s speech. Some believed repercussions should be levied against him while others wanted forgiveness from them both. One former Raiders star, Hall-of-Famer wide receiver Tim Brown told The New York Times he is in favor of forgiving Gruden because while he knows him to be rude and profane – not racist at all. According to reports by The Times other former Raiders as well as members of NFL leadership council also hold similar opinions.