Bye Jon. 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. 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. Gruden’s messages were sent to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Team, and others, while he was working for ESPN as a color analyst during “Monday Night Football,” the sports network’s weekly prime-time telecast of N.F.L. games. In the emails, Gruden called the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, a “f*****” and a “clueless anti football p***y” and said that Goodell should not have pressured Jeff Fisher, then the coach of the Rams, to draft “queers,” a reference to Michael Sam, a gay player chosen by the team in 2014. In numerous emails during a seven-year period ending in early 2018, Gruden criticized Goodell and the league for trying to reduce concussions and said that Eric Reid, a player who had demonstrated during the playing of the national anthem, should be fired. In several instances, Gruden used a homophobic slur to refer to Goodell and offensive language to describe some N.F.L. owners, coaches and journalists who cover the league. Gruden’s behavior was not limited to 2011. Gruden exchanged emails with Allen and other men that included photos of women wearing only bikini bottoms, including one photo of two Washington team cheerleaders. Gruden also criticized President Obama during his re-election campaign in 2012, as well as then-vice president Joe Biden, whom Gruden called a “nervous clueless p***y.” He used similar words to describe Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association. Privately, Allen and Gruden appeared to have few boundaries in expressing homophobic and transphobic language. In one email from 2015 that includes Droste, McVay and others, Gruden crudely asked Allen to tell Bryan Glazer, whose family owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where Gruden coached until 2008, to perform oral sex on him. Allen said Glazer would “take you up on that offer.” Allen and Gruden also mocked Caitlyn Jenner, who received an award from ESPN in 2015 after she transitioned. In an email from 2015, Allen and Gruden criticized a congressional bill that aimed to force the Washington franchise to change its name, which some Native Americans and others have denounced as a slur. Again using a vulgar term, Gruden took aim at Goodell and his staff even though the commissioner had initially defended the team’s right to keep the name. In 2017, Droste shared with the group a sexist meme of a female referee to which Gruden replied, “Nice job roger.” That same year, Gruden was sent a link to an article about N.F.L. players calling on Goodell to support their efforts promoting racial equality and criminal justice reform. Gruden had advice for Goodell: “He needs to hide in his concussion protocol tent,” he wrote.
I actually think this was a hit job by the NFL. They’ve had these emails for awhile. They knew they could do this at any point. Gruden must have done something to push the envelope. This is black-balling. The public didn’t even have enough time to invoke “cancel culture” on this story.
Let’s not act whoever leaked these emails did it because “it was the right thing to do.” Everyone has an agenda. These emails got leaked because someone wanted them to get leaked.
But if this was over a series of years he has to go. You cannot be in a leadership role and have this out there. He did this to himself
Spoiler: D&D “I know I said I was boycotting the NFL because if you get woke, you go broke but Gruden is my favorite coach and was wrongly fired. Fired because of this soft ass sensitive culture of the liberal radical left! It was 10 years ago! What did he say that was so wrong or so bad? Jon Gruden is the victim here. He’s an American hero. TRUMP/GRUDEN 2024!” Signed— LOL God damn clowns.
You do realize 99% of us would get fired calling our bosses that, right, even over an email. Has very little to do with cancel culture. It could've been an outsider who leaked it, very easily.
