More Gruden emails reveal problematic comments from Raiders coach

By Ken Belson and Katherine Rosman | New York Times

When the vaunted N.F.L. manager Jon Gruden was confronted with a racist email helium had sent successful 2011 to insult the caput of the players’ union, helium said helium went excessively acold but didn’t person “a leaf of racism” successful him.

But league officials arsenic portion of a abstracted workplace misconduct probe that did not straight impact him person recovered that Gruden, present the manager of the Las Vegas Raiders, casually and often unleashed misogynistic and homophobic connection implicit respective years to denigrate radical astir the crippled and to mock immoderate of the league’s momentous changes.

He denounced the emergence of women arsenic referees, the drafting of a cheery subordinate and the tolerance of players protesting during the playing of the nationalist anthem, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times.

Gruden’s messages were sent to Bruce Allen, the erstwhile president of the Washington Football Team, and others, portion helium was moving for ESPN arsenic a colour expert during “Monday Night Football,” the sports network’s play prime-time telecast of N.F.L. games. In the emails, Gruden called the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, a “f****t” and a “clueless anti shot p***y” and said that Goodell should not person pressured Jeff Fisher, past the manager of the Rams, to draught “queers,” a notation to Michael Sam, a cheery subordinate chosen by the squad successful 2014.

In galore emails during a seven-year play ending successful aboriginal 2018, Gruden criticized Goodell and the league for trying to trim concussions and said that Eric Reid, a subordinate who had demonstrated during the playing of the nationalist anthem, should beryllium fired. In respective instances, Gruden utilized a homophobic slur to notation to Goodell and violative connection to picture immoderate N.F.L. owners, coaches and journalists who screen the league.

Gruden, Allen, the N.F.L., and the Raiders did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Although not with a squad astatine the time, Gruden was inactive influential successful the league and highly coveted arsenic a coach. He had won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers pursuing the 2002 season. And successful 2018, helium was hired for his 2nd stint arsenic the caput manager of the Raiders franchise, which includes antiaircraft lineman Carl Nassib, the archetypal progressive N.F.L. subordinate to publically state that helium is gay.

The league said past week that it shared emails with the Raiders successful which Gruden made derogatory comments.

Gruden told ESPN connected Sunday that the league was reviewing emails successful which helium criticized Goodell, and explained that helium had been upset astir squad owners’ lockout of the players successful 2011, erstwhile immoderate of the emails were written. Gruden said successful that interrogation that had utilized an expletive to notation to Goodell and that helium did truthful due to the fact that helium disapproved of Goodell’s accent connected safety, which helium believed was scaring parents into steering their sons distant from football.

But Gruden’s behaviour was not constricted to 2011. Gruden exchanged emails with Allen and different men that included photos of women wearing lone bikini bottoms, including 1 photograph of 2 Washington squad cheerleaders.

Gruden besides criticized President Obama during his re-election run successful 2012, arsenic good arsenic then-vice president Joe Biden, whom Gruden called a “nervous clueless pussy.” He utilized akin words to picture Goodell and DeMaurice Smith, the enforcement manager of the N.F.L. Players Association.

The league is already investigating Gruden arsenic a effect of different email helium wrote to Allen successful 2011 successful which helium utilized racist presumption to picture Smith, who is Black.

In that email, Gruden, who is achromatic and was moving for ESPN astatine the time, criticized Smith’s quality and utilized a racist trope to picture his face. The correspondence was archetypal reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by The New York Times.

The league, Smith, and Mark Davis, the proprietor of the Raiders, each denounced Gruden’s comments, but the manager frankincense acold has not been penalized and helium coached his squad successful its crippled connected Sunday against the Chicago Bears. Gruden said Friday that helium did not retrieve sending the email and that his connection “went excessively far,” adding, “I ne'er had a leaf of racism successful me.”

Gruden’s emails to Allen, who was fired by the Washington Football Team astatine the extremity of 2019, were reviewed arsenic portion of an N.F.L. probe of workplace misconduct wrong the franchise that ended this summer. Goodell instructed league executives to look astatine much than 650,000 emails during the past fewer months, including those successful which Gruden made violative remarks. Last week, Goodell received a summary of their findings and the league sent the Raiders immoderate of the emails written by Gruden.

In the exchanges, Gruden utilized his idiosyncratic email relationship portion Allen wrote from his squad account. In immoderate cases, Allen initiated the conversations and Gruden chimed in, portion successful different cases, they commercialized vulgar comments respective times.

Some of the emails betwixt Gruden and Allen besides included businessmen friends, Ed Droste, the co-founder of Hooters; Jim McVay, an enforcement who has tally the Outback Bowl, annually held successful Tampa, Fla.; and Nick Reader, the laminitis of PDQ Restaurants, a Tampa-based fried chickenhearted franchise. The exchanges statesman arsenic aboriginal arsenic 2010 portion Gruden was an expert for “Monday Night Football.” In 2018, helium signed a 10-year, $100 cardinal declaration to manager the Raiders.

Droste, McVay, and Reader did not instantly respond to requests for comment.

Gruden and Allen are longtime friends and colleagues. Allen was an elder enforcement with the Raiders from 1995 to 2003, erstwhile helium worked with Gruden, who was caput manager of the squad from 1998 to 2001. Gruden became caput manager of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers successful 2002 and bushed the Raiders successful the Super Bowl that season. Allen became the wide manager determination successful 2004. Allen and Gruden some near the Buccaneers aft the 2008 season. While Gruden moved connected to a broadcast relation with ESPN, Allen became the wide manager successful Washington successful 2010 and aboriginal the team’s president.

Taken together, the emails supply an unvarnished look into the clubby civilization of 1 N.F.L. ellipse of peers, wherever achromatic antheral determination makers felt comfy sharing pornographic images, deriding the league policies, and jocularly sharing homophobic language.

Allen, who is the lad of legendary N.F.L. manager George Allen, and Gruden — whose begetter coached astatine Notre Dame and whose brother, Jay, was caput manager successful Washington from 2014 to 2019 — are portion of an exclusive web that cycles betwixt N.F.L. teams, networks and companies affiliated with the league.

Their banter flies successful the look of the league’s nationalist denouncements of racism and sexism and its promises to beryllium much inclusive amid disapproval for not listening to the concerns of Black players, who marque up astir 70 percent of rosters. The N.F.L. has successful the past struggled to subject unit who person committed acts of home unit and been condemned for failing to adequately code harassment of women, including N.F.L. cheerleaders.

In June, the N.F.L. congratulated Nassib aft helium became the archetypal progressive N.F.L. subordinate to publically state that helium is gay. Goodell said helium was “proud of Carl for courageously sharing his information today. Representation matters.”

Privately, Allen and Gruden appeared to person fewer boundaries successful expressing homophobic and transphobic language. In 1 email from 2015 that includes Droste, McVay and others, Gruden crudely asked Allen to archer Bryan Glazer, whose household owns the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wherever Gruden coached until 2008, to execute oral enactment connected him. Allen said Glazer would “take you up connected that offer.”

Allen and Gruden besides mocked Caitlyn Jenner, who received an grant from ESPN successful 2015 aft she transitioned.

In an email from 2015, Allen and Gruden criticized a legislature measure that aimed to unit the Washington franchise to alteration its name, which immoderate Native Americans and others person denounced arsenic a slur. Again utilizing a vulgar term, Gruden took purpose astatine Goodell and his unit adjacent though the commissioner had initially defended the team’s close to support the name.

In 2017, Droste shared with the radical a sexist meme of a pistillate referee to which Gruden replied, “Nice occupation roger.”

That aforesaid year, Gruden was sent a nexus to an nonfiction astir N.F.L. players calling connected Goodell to enactment their efforts promoting radical equality and transgression justness reform. Gruden had proposal for Goodell:

“He needs to fell successful his concussion protocol tent,” helium wrote.