Rob Maaddi, FISM News
Jon Gruden says he’s a church-going, “good person” and too many people have misperceptions about him following an email scandal that cost him his job as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Speaking for the first time since the events unfolded last October, Gruden accepted responsibility for sending emails that contained racist, anti-gay, and misogynistic language.
“I’m not gonna say anything but honest things here. I’m ashamed about what has come about in these emails, and I’ll make no excuses for it,” Gruden said Tuesday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club in Arkansas. “It’s shameful. But, I am a good person. I believe that. I go to church. I’ve been married for 31 years. I’ve got three great boys. I still love football. I’ve made some mistakes. But I don’t think anybody in here hasn’t. And I just ask for forgiveness and, hopefully, I get another shot.”
The 59-year-old Gruden filed a lawsuit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league last year, alleging that a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” was used to destroy his career by leaking old emails he had sent during a time when he wasn’t employed by the NFL.
Gruden’s emails first became known in a Wall Street Journal article on Oct. 8, 2021. He was on the sideline coaching the Raiders that weekend before The New York Times published an article Oct. 11 that contained additional emails. Gruden resigned that night.
Gruden had signed a 10-year contract worth a reported $100 million to leave ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth and return to the Raiders in 2018.
The emails came out during the NFL’s investigation into workplace conditions with the Washington franchise. They were among 650,000 emails obtained by the league in June 2021 during its investigation. In his lawsuit against the league, Gruden’s attorneys contend the league had been in possession of the emails since June.
Gruden’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner, said in a statement that the defendants “selectively leaked Gruden’s private correspondence to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in order to harm Gruden’s reputation and force him out of his job.”
Gruden became teary-eyed while speaking to the crowd in Arkansas.
“I get a choked up, you know, because there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there right now,” he said. “What you read, what you hear, what you watch on TV. Hell, I worked at ESPN for nine years. I worked hard at that job. I don’t even want to watch the channel anymore because I don’t believe everything is true. And I know a lot of it is just trying to get people to watch. But I think we’ve got to get back to reality.”
Fans applauded his comments.
Earlier this year, a Nevada judge ruled in favor of Gruden, opening the possibility of a jury trial, by denying the NFL’s motion to compel arbitration as well as the league’s motion to dismiss the case outright.
The Raiders went 7-5 under interim coach Rich Bisaccia after Gruden stepped down, and earned the team’s second playoff berth since 2002. They lost a wild-card game to the eventual AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals and made changes. Bisaccia and general manager Mike Mayock lost their jobs. Longtime New England Patriots offensive coordinator and former Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels replaced Bisaccia. Former Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler took Mayock’s job.
Gruden, who coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the franchise’s first Super Bowl title following the 2002 season, saw his name removed from the team’s Ring of Honor one day after he lost his job with the Raiders.