Jon

Gruden

Gruden, per Vic Tatur of The Athletic, “still holds out hope of coaching again” after he was forced to resign from his job with the Raiders. This appears to be a trial balloon to the idea of Gruden coming back after offensive e-mails surfaced during the NFL’s unrelated investigation of workplace harassment with the Washington Commanders. Gruden would probably have better odds trying to come back as an underling, but it remains unlikely that an NFL team will actually hire him.

“He has plenty of money from his broadcasting, Raiders and sponsorship deals and may value putting Goodell on trial more than any dollar figure,” Tatur writes. 🍿. The NFL is trying to get Gruden’s defamation of character lawsuit dismissed and has appealed the original ruling that it could go forward, but people in Gruden’s camp think that the speed with which the judge ruled makes the appeal a long shot.

“Through a malicious and orchestrated campaign, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell sought to destroy the career and reputation of Jon Gruden, the former head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” the lawsuit filed Thursday in Clark County District Court stated. Gruden’s lawyers also wrote in the 21-page complaint that the former coach was “forced to resign” after the “Defendants ratcheted up the pressure by intimating that further documents would become public if Gruden was not fired.” This is a developing story that is far from over.

Gruden resigned from his post as Raiders head coach on Monday after emails he sent demonstrating blatant racism, homophobia, misogyny, and other types of bigotry were leaked. Tampa Bay wasted no time in removing the Super Bowl-winning coach from their Ring of Honor. The team also released a statement saying they believe in promoting equality and diversity.

Three days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported Gruden sent an email that used a racist trope to describe NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith back in 2011. In a separate investigation into the Washington franchise, more than 650,000 emails were reviewed, and they revealed a plethora of homophobic, misogynistic messages from Gruden. There was no clearing this latest hurdle after Gruden took the last few days trying to save face, claiming there “isn’t a racist bone in my body.” That proved to be a flat-out lie. Not only is Gruden racist, he slammed gays, women in the NFL, and commissioner Roger Goodell across many years when he was working for ESPN and sending emails to ex-Washington team president and GM Bruce Allen. Gruden will never coach again after completing less than 3.5 years of his 10-year, $100 million contract.

The emails, which surfaced in a different investigation than the one that revealed Gruden’s racist language, were sent in a period between 2011-18. As was the case with the racist email, these new emails were part of a chain with ex-Washington Football Team executive Bruce Allen, one of Gruden’s former bosses. They feature Gruden using a homophobic slur to describe commissioner Roger Goodell, his complaints about the league hiring female referees, and his disgust at the St. Louis Rams drafting openly gay pass rusher Michael Sam. They are shocking in both their insensitivity and retrograde thinking. Gruden was already barely weathering the storm from last week’s scandal. It is impossible to see how he survives this with his job. Stay tuned.

The Wall Street Journal reports Gruden wrote “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires” in his sent email during the height of the 2011 NFL lockout. Gruden, who recently apologized, said he was upset with how Smith was handling the CBA talks at the time, reaffirming to the WSJ that he “used a horrible way of explaining it.” The NFL has since released an empty statement on the matter, stating the league “condemns the statement and regret any harm that its publication may inflict on Mr. Smith or anyone else.” The league is also reportedly sharing emails pertaining to Gruden with the Raiders while a person familiar with the matter, per WSJ Sports, said the NFL is currently discussing Gruden’s status with the club. This story is far from over.

It’s not clear whether Olson tested positive for COVID-19, but he won’t be at Thursday night’s game. Gruden will take over as the Raiders’ offensive play caller. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep his mask on in this one.

This puts them on track for Sunday night’s game with the Chiefs. The Raiders should get back most of their starting defense after placing eight players on the COVID list. Clelin Ferrell is the only Raiders player that’s been ruled out for Week 11.

Coach Jon Gruden has also been fined $150,000. The stiff penalties are because the Raiders were deemed to be “repeat offenders.” Gruden certainly hasn’t displayed the best mask form on the sideline, in addition to some off-the-field protocol issues with his players. With COVID running more and more rampant inside the NFL, the league is going to grow ever more heavy-handed in an effort to keep the season on track. It is going to be extraordinarily difficult as the United States deals with record coronavirus cases heading into colder weather.