Jon Gruden emails: Read ex-Raiders coach’s statement after resignation
By Josh Hill
After more Jon Gruden emails became public, the ex-Raiders coach released a statement following his resignation on Monday night.
Jon Gruden is no longer the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and his NFL legacy is forever altered.
On Monday night another batch of emails that Gruden sent a decade ago became public, and they were way worse than the first one that was released by the Wall Street Journal last week.
In the emails, Gruden expressed deeply hateful stances on openly gay players playing in the NFL, the increased use of female officials, while also using homophobic language while referring to members of the NFL executive branch including commissioner Roger Goodell.
After news of his resignation made the rounds, Gruden released a statement acknowledging that he was stepping away with an attempt to apologize once more.
Jon Gurden emails: Ex-Raiders coach releases statement
“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’s statement read.
Any apology from Gruden is likely to fall flat, and rightfully so.
The fact that the common refrain about an NFL head coach resigning due to communicating his misogynistic and homophobic views is an utter lack of surprise says a lot about the NFL’s culture as a whole.
It’s unlikely that this whole situation ends with Gruden’s resignation from the Raiders. The NFL’s toxic culture of gatekeeping and systemic racism has long been talked about, but hardly by anyone in positions of top-tier power within the league.
The Gruden emails might finally force the league to reckon with itself in a way its been avoiding for decades.