Raiders coach Jon Gruden has resigned his position following reports of him using homophobic and misogynistic language in emails from as early as 2010. This came days after a report of racially insensitive emails.
“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden said in a statement released by the team. “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis accepted Gruden’s resignation Monday night as well. The team announced on Monday that Rich Bisaccia will serve as interim head coach. Bisaccia had been assistant head coach/special teams coordinator.
Earlier Monday, the New York Times reported it had uncovered emails used homophobic and misogynistic phrases during a seven-year period. The emails reported by the Times came from league sources and that they had been shared with the Raiders organization since last week.
This report came three days after the Wall Street Journal published an article on Friday about an email that had surfaced about Gruden calling NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, “Dumborris Smith has the lips the size of michelin tires.”
NFL Network’s Tom Peliserro was the first to report Gruden’s resignation. Peliserro said Gruden came to the decision to resign on his own.
Gruden resigns as coach after admitting sending emails
After Sunday’s game, Gruden addressed the media and acknowledged making the initial statement regarding Smith, but said, “All I can say is I’m not a racist. I can’t tell you how sick I am. I apologized again to [NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice] De Smith, but I feel good about who I am and what I’ve done my entire life. I apologize for the insensitive remarks. I had no racial intentions with those remarks at all.”
On Monday after practice, Gruden told reporters that he “learned a lot and again, I’m not going to rehash the event again. I think I feel very good about the things I have learned. I also feel really good about what I stand for, as I said yesterday, and I’ll be happy to talk about football but I’ll just leave it at that.”
In the New York Times article, the newspaper reported an email in which he called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell “a faggot” and said Goodell pressured former Rams coach Jeff Fisher into drafting “queers” when the Rams selected Michael Sam in 2014.
Sam had openly come out as gay prior to the draft. He attended training camp with the Rams but didn’t make the team.
This past off-season Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out, becoming the first openly gay player to play in a regular season game. After revealing his sexual orientation, Gruden told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he “learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great.”
The Times also reported that Gruden had disparaged the NFL for bringing in women officials.
The emails reported by the Times were sent to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Club, as was the email about Smith that was reported by the Wall Street Journal.