Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden used misogynistic and anti-gay language in numerous emails during a seven-year period beginning in 2011, The New York Times reported Monday night, saying it has reviewed the emails.
The NFL sent the Raiders additional Gruden emails to review, on top of the one about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith that surfaced last week, and others Gruden recently confirmed to ESPN, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday.
According to The Times, Gruden sent emails to Bruce Allen, then the president of the Washington Football Team, and others during a seven-year period that ended in 2018.
Gruden emailed Allen that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should not have pressured then-Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “queers,” referring to former defensive end Michael Sam, a gay player drafted in 2014, according to The Times. The Times also reported that Gruden used an anti-gay slur in several instances while referring to Goodell, and used offensive language to describe some owners, coaches and media members who cover the league.
Gruden also denounced the emergence of women as referees in his emails, according to The Times, and said that safety Eric Reid, who kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, should be fired. In 2017, after being sent an article link about NFL players seeking the commissioner’s support in their efforts to promote racial equality and criminal justice reform, Gruden replied, in reference to Goodell: “He needs to hide in his concussion protocol tent.”
Gruden was employed by ESPN as the lead analyst for Monday Night Football at the time he sent the emails that are now under review.
“The comments are clearly repugnant under any circumstance,” ESPN said in a statement.
The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that one of Gruden’s emails from 2011 included a racist comment in reference to Smith. Gruden apologized, saying that he is “ashamed I insulted De Smith” and added that he “never had a racial thought” when he sent the email.
Raiders owner Mark Davis issued a statement on Friday after the Journal’s story broke, calling the content of Gruden’s email to Smith “disturbing” and “not what the Raiders stand for.”
Gruden’s emails came to light during the NFL’s investigation of workplace misconduct with the Washington Football Team, as “the league was informed of the existence of emails that raised issues beyond the scope of that investigation,” according to league spokesman Brian McCarthy. Senior league executives reviewed the content of more than 650,000 emails, including ones between Gruden and Allen. The NFL sent pertinent emails to the Raiders for review.
Gruden led the Raiders from 1998 until he was traded to Tampa Bay after the 2001 season. He immediately led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl title — against the Raiders.
He lasted through the 2008 season in Tampa before being fired, then headed to the Monday Night Football booth.
The Raiders, then in Oakland, rehired Gruden in 2018 with a 10-year, $100 million contract. The team moved to Las Vegas last year and has not made the playoffs since his return. The Raiders are 3-2 in 2021.
ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.