Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has shared more details from the problematic emails he sent in 2011.
In 2011, the NFL head coach – then an analyst at ESPN – used a racist trope when describing NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.
“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” he wrote, per The Wall Street Journal.
Gruden says he did not intend for the lips comment to be racist. However, there is a long history of racist depictions of Black people with giant, cartoon-ish lips.
Jon Gruden, head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, used a racist trope when describing the top NFL players’ executive in a 2011 email https://t.co/FYHLHqrOsY
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 8, 2021
Gruden has since revealed more details from his problematic emails. He also reportedly disparaged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
From ESPN.com:
Jon Gruden disparaged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell with a vulgar description in one of several emails that were among the materials provided by the league to the Las Vegas Raiders this past week, Gruden confirmed to ESPN.
Gruden’s emails also included harsh words for a handful of team owners who were involved in the 2011 labor disagreement that led to a lockout.
Gruden issued a comment to ESPN.
“I was in a bad frame of mind at the time (in 2011) and I called Roger Goodell a (expletive) in one of these emails, too,” the Raiders coach said Friday night to ESPN. “They were keeping players and coaches from doing what they love with a lockout. There also were a lot of things being reported publicly about the safety of the sport that I love. I was on a mission with high school football (in the Tampa area) during that time and there were a lot of parents who were scared about letting their kids play football. It just didn’t sit well with me.”
Gruden’s emails are now under investigation.
The Raiders, 3-1, are set to host the Bears on Sunday afternoon.
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