Coach Gruden resigns after racism, anti-gay revelations
LAS VEGAS: Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigned on Monday, as new allegations of using misogynistic and anti-gay language rocked the coach just days after he was accused of racism.
Gruden, 58, stepped down after meeting Raiders owner Mark Davis earlier on Monday soon after fresh revelations engulfed the embattled head coach.
“I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden said in a statement on the Raiders website.
“I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction... I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”
Gruden’s bombshell decision comes after a tumultuous 72-hour period that began on Friday when the Wall Street Journal revealed the coach had used a racist trope to describe players union chief DeMaurice Smith.
In the email, Gruden referred to Smith as having “lips the size of Michelin tyres.”
The language invokes imagery long used in anti-Black caricatures.
The National Football League condemned the email as “appalling, abhorrent and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values.”
In comments to ESPN at the weekend, Gruden said he was “ashamed” of his language, and insisted he “didn’t have a blade of racism” in his character.
But late on Monday, The New York Times reported it had reviewed several further emails by Gruden in which he used anti-gay and misogynistic slurs as he disparaged issues such as the
emergence of women referees to the drafting of a gay player.
Gruden coached the only openly gay player in the NFL, Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, who came out as gay in June.
In other emails reported by the Times, Gruden derided players who protested during the playing of the US national anthem, calling for them to be fired.
Gruden also used anti-gay slurs to abuse NFL commissioner Roger Goodell over the league’s efforts to reduce concussions.
The Times reported that the emails stemmed from a separate workplace misconduct investigation, which did not directly involve Gruden.
The emails were sent to former Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen when Gruden was working as a studio analyst for ESPN.
Gruden returned to coaching with the Raiders in 2018 after a 10-year absence.
In the emails reviewed by the Times, Gruden is alleged to have referred to NFL chief Goodell as a “faggot” and a “clueless anti-football pussy.”
NFL Players Association executive director Smith said on Monday that Gruden had contacted him following the revelations.
“I appreciate that he reached out to me,” Smith wrote on social media. “I told him that we will connect soon.” Smith said the email from Gruden and reaction to it “confirms that the fight against racism, racist tropes and intolerance is not over.”