Bus driver’s past music to Gruden’s ear
Jon Gruden is back in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders, and he’s got his Monday Night Football bus driver by his side.
As Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times puts it, Jeff Leonardo is Gruden’s right-hand man, as he’s picked up Gruden at his house to take him to the Raiders’ facility, organized his schedule and compiled video on players, among other things.
“Jon,” Leonardo told the Los Angeles Times, “is a rock star.”
Leonardo was an ESPN bus driver for the Monday Night Football crew for the past 13 years, including the past nine with Gruden. He also has been a bus driver for AC/DC, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns N’ Roses and Eric Clapton.
Gruden and Leonardo work well together, but it’s Leonardo’s rock connection that obsesses Gruden.
“No matter what I’ve done in life, he brings it all back to, ‘Hey, he drove the bus for AC/DC!’ ” Leonardo said. “I go, ‘Well, I’ve done a couple other things, too. I can recite pi to 100 places. I can tell you all the presidents. I own one of the coolest vineyards in central Europe, and it’s like, ‘He drove the bus for AC/DC!’ OK, I guess that’s what I am, then.”
Leonardo said the parallels between Gruden and AC/DC are undeniable.
“He’s AC/DC, 100 percent,” Leonardo said. “The same work ethic, the same grounded values. They think a lot like him. The same no-nonsense passion for their craft. The same confidence in their abilities to get it done.
“AC/DC is like, ‘Really? Play after us. Go ahead, put us on first. Play after us. We’ll see what happens.’ ”
Hopefully for Gruden’s sake, his second stint with the Raiders won’t be shot down in flames.