When Dolphins safety Jevon Holland was in college at Oregon, he became an active voice for change and good in his community. Some people didn’t like it.
His father, Robert, in a recent appearance on the DolphinsTalk.com podcast, said that Jevon “had this sort of Colin Kaepernick tag” prior to the 2021 draft. It prompted one specific coach to ask a question to which the Hollands took exception.
During an offseason featuring plenty of Zoom calls during the pandemic, the Raiders had called Jevon “every day for a week.” Here’s what Robert Holland said about one of the calls: “Jon Gruden asked Jevon, ‘Hey, are you going to change your name to Malcolm X when you get into the league?’ And i jumped up, and then Jevon put his hand up and said, ‘No, I got this, Dad. And, listen, I use my platform to speak for those people who can’t speak, and I’m only speaking for good. And if I’m not the kind of guy who you perceive as speaking for good or doing something wrong, maybe I shouldn’t be part of your organization.’ And he hung up.”
The Raiders took tackle Alex Leatherwood with the 17th pick in the draft. Holland went at No. 36, to the Dolphins.
Later that year, Gruden found himself out of a job when emails sent during his time with ESPN to Washington executive Bruce Allen were leaked to multiple publications. While it was wrong for someone to weaponize those material against anyone, the account of Gruden’s question of Jevon Holland won’t surprise anyone, given the contents of those emails.
