Gruden on ‘Hard Knocks’ portrayal: ‘I’m not as foul-mouthed as people think’
NAPA – Jon Gruden spent nine years on television in Monday Night Football and managed to avoid swearing on the air.
Through two episodes of HBO’S “Hard Knocks,” Gruden has been the central character and a largely uncensored one. HBO does a censored version that runs before 7 p.m to shield younger audience members from blue language.
The Raiders’ head coach turned 56 Saturday, and is getting after it verbally the same way he did when he was a kid coach with the Raiders in 1998 and as an assistant with Green Bay and Philadephia before that. With the Eagles, Gruden, working from the coaches booth, once exchanged middle fingers with Ricky Watters on the sideline over the running back’s dismay over not getting enough carries.
Except in those instances, nobody ever heard the words Gruden was using. Objectionable words were not used by NFL Films or bleeped out. So in a language sense, “Hard Knocks” is Gruden unchained.
Gruden was almost sheepish when asked about what he thinks when he sees himself on video.
“I don’t like hearing all the profanity,” Gruden said. “It’s like every time I swear it makes the show. I just love football. I have a lot of passion for this and I get way carried away sometimes. I apologize. I’m not as foulmouthed as people think, and if you think I am, I’m sorry.”
There were 47 profanities of varying degrees in Episode 2, with Gruden responsible for 23 of them.
Moments into the second episode, Gruden greeted his team, congratulated them for a solid first week, then promised to raise the bar, a sequence that was punctuated with, “I want some (bleeping) execution!”
During a 14-3 win over the Rams, Gruden’s swore often, then at one point he mutters to himself, “I gotta quit cussing.”
Of course, HBO edited the sequence to be followed up immediately with Gruden saying of the Rams, “Let’s chew these fat (bleeps) up!”