Keyshawn Johnson starred for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2000-03. For those last two seasons, before being deactivated from the team midway through 2003, he played for head coach Jon Gruden.
Gruden now finds himself at the center of the NFL’s biggest controversy. Days after an email in which he used a racially insensitive term about NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, The New York Times reported that he used homophobic and misogynistic language in a much longer series of emails years ago.
On Monday night, Gruden resigned from the Las Vegas Raiders. One person who isn’t surprised by the situation, and called for Gruden’s resignation after the first revelation: Keyshawn Johnson, now an analyst and host at ESPN.
Johnson discussed his own experiences as a player for Gruden. He describes him as a “fraud” and “used car salesman” who constantly talks behind the backs of others, even when being pleasant to them in person.
“He’s just always been a fraud to me. … From day one, he’s always been a used car salesman.”
—@keyshawn on Jon Gruden (via @KeyJayandMax) pic.twitter.com/KaxQ3w056S
— ESPN (@espn) October 12, 2021
“I didn’t know that Jon would say things like that or put them in an email,” Johnson said. “He’s just always been a fraud to me.
“From day one, he’s been a used car salesman. And people bought it because he inherited a championship team from Tony Dungy and Rich McKay, and he came in there with a little bit of different energy than we had with Tony, and it kind of kicked us over the top to get a world championship, which I’m grateful for.”
Some of the things he experiences that Johnson had with Gruden seem to correlate pretty directly with the current scandal. He recapped Gruden taking the Super Bowl Trophy from Rich McKay, then the Buccaneers’ GM, and McKay’s departure at mid season in 2003 “because he doesn’t want to be around this guy.”
Expect to see plenty of Keyshawn Johnson, who is currently a guest on First Take, today as everyone unpacks this Jon Gruden story.
The post Keyshawn Johnson Reveals His True Thoughts On Jon Gruden appeared first on The Spun.
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