Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has resigned after three full seasons after a 10-year-old email chain surfaced and exposed his racist and anti-gay comments.
This was Gruden’s second stint with the Raiders. He was head coach from 1998 to 2001 and recently, in 2018, reunited with Oakland before they moved cities to become the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. He had found success with the Raiders, finishing first in the AFC for two consecutive years. The biggest highlight of his career, however, was winning the Super Bowl against Tampa Bay in 2002.
Yet, his career will not be remembered for these accolades but more so for having to step down in disgrace. An email chain that spans over the course of seven years has revealed Gruden’s true colors. In the emails, there are racist comments directed toward the executive director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, and anti-gay comments aimed at a former St. Louis Rams player and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Throughout the email chain, he also commented on several owners, players, coaches and the media while using obscene and hurtful language.
Many of the emails were sent to Bruce Allen, the former general manager of Tampa Bay and Washington.
On Monday night, Gruden released a statement 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 the Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”
Gruden was on a ten-year hiatus from coaching in the NFL at the time that these emails were written and was a lead analyst for Monday Night Football on ESPN.
ESPN commented on the emails by saying, “The comments are clearly repugnant under any circumstances.”
These emails were brought to light after five games of the 2021 NFL campaign. The Raiders (3-2) are heading into Week 6 against the Denver Broncos. For now, assistant coach Rich Bisaccia will take the reigns as interim head coach.
