Burn it down: Jon Gruden wants the ultimate revenge on NFL

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden wants to know who leaked his emails, and he’s on a mission to find out.

In October of 2021, several emails sent by then-Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden — including one that referred to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith by a racial trope — were published via the Wall Street Journal. Gruden was eventually relieved of his duties by the Raiders, but the former Super Bowl winner is seeking some form of justice from what he deemed to be an unfair breach of privacy.

Gruden has insisted the league office leaked his emails, and a month after his departure filed a lawsuit against Goodell and the NFL. The case is now in the Nevada Supreme Court, based on an appeal by the league itself. Gruden has won his case at several court levels so far.

“For the league to exist, it has to be neutral,” said Gruden’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner. “If it favors or disfavors owners, teams or coaches, then all bets are off with respect to civil liability, antitrust protection and competitive integrity. The league was not neutral or fair with Jon, and our lawsuit is proving there are consequences.”

Who leaked Jon Gruden’s emails?

Gruden believes Goodell in particular had an issue with him personally, and used the emails as a chance to force him out of Vegas and the NFL altogether. Goodell, to this point, has refuted those claims.

“Neither the NFL nor the commissioner leaked Coach Gruden’s offensive emails,” league spokesperson Brian McCarthy told ESPN.

Yet, Gruden isn’t buying this, insisting that Goodell was the culprit and vying to “to burn the house down.”

Former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, as well as Smith and Goodell are all suspects in regards to who leaked Gruden’s emails. Gruden doesn’t buy Snyder as the leaker, though, insisting that the Washington owner doesn’t have anything against him personally.

Gruden’s legal team will likely hire some sort of digital forensics expert to discover who leaked said email, and we’ll finally get to the bottom of this. For now, though, it’s clear that Gruden only has one thing on his mind — revenge.