Anthony Galaviz
The Fresno Bee
Jon Gruden resigned as the Las Vegas Raiders coach Monday night after e-mails surfaced that detailed disturbing comments he made about NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith, commissioner Roger Goddell and others in the NFL and associated with the league.
“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 Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone,” Gruden said in a statement.
In a statement, Raiders owner Mark Davis said “I have accepted Jon Gruden’s resignation as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.”
Late last week a report by the Wall Street Journal detailed Gruden’s private e-mail to former Washington Football Team general manager Bruce Allen. Gruden, in 2011, used a racial trope to describe Smith.
Details on another trove of e-mail exchanges involving Gruden while he worked as an ESPN analyst emerged late Monday afternoon in a report by the New York Times.
The Times reported that Gruden used homophobic slurs when referring to Goddell and other offensive language to “describe some NFL owners, coaches and journalists who cover the league.”
“League officials as part of a separate workplace misconduct investigation that did not directly involve him have found that Gruden, now the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, casually and frequently unleashed misogynistic and homophobic language over several years to denigrate people around the game and to mock some of the league’s momentous changes,” the Times reported.
“He denounced the emergence of women as referees, the drafting of a gay player and the tolerance of players protesting during the playing of the national anthem, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times.”
The NFL had said they have sent the e-mails to the Raiders and were waiting to see how the team would handle the issue, but within hours of the Times report, the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero tweeted, per a source, that Gruden had “informed his staff that he plans to resign.”
” Jon Gruden spoke with #Raiders owner Mark Davis a short time ago to inform Davis of his decision,” Pelissero followed up. “It’s official. Gruden is out in Las Vegas.”
Assistant coach Rich Bisaccia is named the Raiders’ interim head coach.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 6:31 PM.
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