Late Friday afternoon, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden found himself in the headlines for a disturbing reason.
Over the past few months, the NFL has been investigating workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Team. Over that time, the league reviewed over 650,000 emails.
An email from Gruden to Washington general manager Bruce Allen featured some pretty nasty language. Venting about NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, the head coach used a racist trope.
“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” he wrote, per The Wall Street Journal.
Raiders owner Mark Davis issued a statement about Gruden’s comments late Friday night.
Davis used one word to describe Gruden’s email: disturbing.
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 8, 2021
“The content of an email regarding DeMaurice Smith from Jon Gruden when he worked for ESPN 10 years ago is disturbing and not what the Raiders stand for,” the statement read. “We were first made aware of the email late yesterday by a reporter and are reviewing it along with other materials provided to us today by the NFL. We are addressing the matter with Coach Gruden and will have no further comment at this time.”
The head coach offered an apology for his comments.
“I’m really sorry,” the Las Vegas Raiders head coach said in response to the story. “I was upset and I used a horrible way of explaining it. I don’t think he’s dumb and I don’t think he’s a liar.”
Gruden said he doesn’t “have a racist bone” in his body. The NFL called Gruden’s email “appalling, abhorrent, and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values.”
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