What Jon Gruden’s emails reveal about the NFL’s culture issues
Sports Seriously: Nancy Armour believes Jon Gruden’s emails show how far the NFL still has to go when it comes to creating an inclusive culture.
Sports Seriously, USA TODAY
Former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden is back in the game … but not in the NFL.
The Milano Seamen, five-time Italian Bowl champions in the European League of Football, announced Wednesday that Gruden will work with the team as an advisor to help improve all aspects of the organization.
It will be the first official football job for Gruden since he resigned from the Raiders five games into the 2021 season after emails he sent containing racist, misogynistic and homophobic language became public.
Gruden, 60, coached 15 seasons in the NFL with the Raiders and Bucs, winning a Super Bowl after the 2002 season with Tampa Bay.
Gruden called the email controversy “shameful,” but has maintained that he still hopes he’ll get a second chance to return into coaching.
In November 2021 shortly after submitting his resignation, Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, alleging that the league leaked the contents of the inflammatory emails in an effort to force him out as Raiders coach.
The suit is still ongoing with a panel of the Nevada Supreme Court hearing aurguments in January. The NFL wants Gruden’s suit thrown out, arguing that a clause in his contract required him to file his claim through league arbitration, rather than the courts.
