I haven’t seen any threads about this, although it’s a huge topic in the news. John Gruden, who had a 10 year contract to be the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders (for $10 million per year) - and who had a reputation for being a workaholic with a tough, no nonsense approach - abruptly resigned. Emails from years earlier (when he was not a coach) had come to light when he had made several offensive comments - he referred to the big lips of a black man, he complained about gay players and female referees, and he apparently shared topless photos of some cheerleaders. Basically, he put his misogyny and bigotry in writing.
I’d be interested in your thoughts on this. I think the Raiders reluctantly let him go, but this is the predictable fallout from being so close minded in a league that tries to market itself broadly. So, for anybody who might complain that this is “cancel culture”, it instead strikes me as a cold business decision.
But it also seems justified given Gruden’s role as head coach. One of his own players is openly gay, and there are a lot of black men on his team. For him to be disrespectful towards them would seem to undermine his ability to lead. I think it warrants letting him go.
There’s a bigger issue here, as well. These emails were sent to a person who worked for an NFL team (Washington), and it raises questions about what was considered normal or appropriate banter. In other words, a lot of people believe that there’s a larger issue of this type of attitude throughout the league.
Yes, but not a whole lot of it, for what was a front page NY Times story.
Many people are also pretty pissed that Dan Snyder - who dismal workplace started the entire investigation - is basically getting off scott free, with not even an official written report from the investigator.
PS. And let me take this opportunity to state the obvious: Gruden is a fuckwad of the highest order.
Guiding rule for coaches and players (and humans in general).
Whatever the temptation, don’t say really stupid shit in e-mails or on social media. Don’t do dumbass things in public where your dumbassery can be captured by cellphone photos and videos. Don’t send naked or otherwise embarrassing photos of yourself to anyone.
Of course, if everyone followed these rules life would be duller.
Also agreed. I’m hoping there was a clause in his contract that if he did anything that made him unfit to be a coach (as in poor conduct) that the Raiders aren’t on the hook for the rest of his contract money. That happens to players all the time.
Gruden resigned; he wasn’t fired. So it was his decision to step away from his contract. Generally speaking, his resignation would mean he is not entitled to anything remaining in the contract.
The language of the contract (not publicly available that I could find) would be determinative, of course, including any “morals clause” that would have allowed them to fire him. But, since he resigned, he’s the one in breach, not the Raiders.
All that said, I doubt the Raiders want a messy divorce from him, and both sides will likely come to an agreement for a buyout. Gruden won’t fight the Raiders, and the Raiders will, very quietly, give him some “go away” money.
The only redeeming thing about this happening instead of him getting fired for being the mediocre coach he is, is that now he has tainted his entire bullshit brand. I likely won’t have to see his smug, fake, punchable face as a commentator anymore.
I am surprised/not surprised by this. Surprised at how quickly this all went down, and he went down without a fight, as the evidence appears to be so clear-cut. Not surprised that there is a culture of racism, misogyny, and homophobia among some leadership in the NFL.
The damage to Jon Gruden’s legacy has radiated beyond the loss of his job as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders and the widespread denunciation of comments that were homophobic, misogynistic and racist. The revelation that Gruden denigrated people around the N.F.L. has tarnished long-held relationships, quashed a couple of sponsorship deals, including one with the popular Madden NFL video game, and plunged him into disrepute with the organization he delivered a Super Bowl title.
Gruden also lost his endorsement contract with the footwear and apparel company Skechers, which in a statement cited a zero-tolerance policy for behavior that opposes its belief in “equality, fostering tolerance and understanding for all people.” On Wednesday, EA Sports announced that it would remove Gruden from its Madden NFL 22 video game.
Gruden’s former team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, removed his name from their Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium.
Different names for the same thing. When you agree with it, it’s “doing the right thing”. If you’re cynical, it’s “a cold business decision”. If you don’t like it, it’s “cancel culture”.
While I agree that no one should do those things, we only know about the times they come to light publicly. No way to tell how often it happens and stays a secret.
I’m not surprised how quick it went down. I’m surprised how long it took.
On the last Sunday Night Football, Tony Dungy (and that’s a whole 'nother topic of discussion) put forward a defense of Gruden and that we needed to get to forgiveness. This was after a whole week had gone by.
Then more emails came out that night. So, Dungy had egg on his face almost immediately. And at that point, Gruden was done. If it were up to Mark Davis alone, Gruden would still have his job. It’s ridiculous he got a 10 year, $100 million contract in the first place, and that’s strictly a result of how much Mark Davis personally likes Gruden.
Surely, the league office knew about this. And surely Bruce Allen and Mark Davis and others had an inkling, given their long association with Gruden going back decades, that there were almost certainly more damaging emails. What they were hoping, however, was that this would somehow be allowed to blow over with just the one.
But the NFL was already getting antsy about how this would play out and wanted to bring things to a head and realized the release of one email wasn’t going to do it. So, more got out there “somehow” , and that was that.
And now everybody is in damage control mode. The upper echelons of the league and ownership aren’t exactly a diverse cross section of America, and they sure as heck don’t want additional scrutiny. And so they’re hoping that sacrificing Gruden might be enough for now. And this does appear to be the case so far.
This whole situation seems really strange to me - from everything I’ve read, the NFL fined Snyder in JULY for the results of the NFL’s investigation, but now we’re hearing about Gruden’s emails to former president Paul Allen in October?
That being said, there seems to be an ongoing part to this. The investigator has so far refused to comment, and the DEA has recently raided the WFT’s practice facility a couple weeks ago.
Jon Gruden is a fuckwad of the highest order, but Dan Snyder is accused of sex trafficking his cheerleaders. Selling the team isn’t the requirement for his actions, prison is.
Yeah, at least one of the emails Gruden sent had topless pictures of Washington cheerleaders from one of those things. They’re all in the same club and share the same dirty laundry.
Coaches are the one area that the NFL can just get rid of. Players have the NFLPA that will fight for them and the NFL and the NFLPA should in theory have pretty equal voices. Owners are owners. It’s their ball and even if they don’t like an individual owner they still need to protect their information and reputation from the NFLPA and the public. A head coach and a former team president will get (deservedly) thrown under the bus but that’s as far as it will go.
As you note, at least the only one for which emails have been released.
The NFL has kept a tight lid on all the emails coming out of Washington relating to that cesspit and how Dan Snyder ran things.
And that’s what a lot of people are asking about - what else is in those millions of emails that are along the same lines and who was involved?
If all of them were publicly released, I’d put the chances that Jon Gruden was the only one to send similar emails into or out of Washington at somewhere between zilch and diddly squat.