Jon Gruden has officially resigned as the Las Vegas Raiders head coach following several emails that were leaked containing racist, homophobic and misogynistic slurs.
The emails sent to former Washington executive Bruce Allen, dating from 2011 through 2018, contained insensitive and blatantly offensive comments towards African-Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, women, and even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Initial reports uncovered one offensive remark—when Gruden used racist imagery to denounce DeMaurace Smith—but the Raiders put off making a decision regarding Gruden’s employment. Gruden was still the Raiders head coach for Sunday’s game, despite the first round of reports stating that Gruden said, “Dumborris Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires.”
The New York Times latest report as of Monday night (Oh, the irony) have brought several accounts of racism, misogyny, and more to the attention of the public. Gruden called Goodell a “faggot,” and a “clueless anti football pussy.” He also stated that Goodell shouldn’t have pressured then-St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher into drafting “queers,” in reference to the first openly gay player in an NFL draft, Michael Sam. Gruden also used homophobic and racist slurs to describe NFL journalists, owners, and players—most notably Eric Reid—for kneeling during the national anthem.
Gruden was brought back to the Las Vegas Raiders organization in 2018 when he signed a 10-year, $100 million contract. Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman who has been with the Raiders during Gruden’s entire tenure as head coach, became the first openly gay active player in NFL history by coming out in an instagram post earlier this year.