Just yesterday, Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden was exposed in a new piece from The Wall Street Journal. It was revealed that the coach used some racist language in a 2011 e-mail, in which he made fun of DeMaurice Smith’s looks. Smith is the executive director of the NFLPA, and at the time, he was helping to negotiate through the lockout. Gruden eventually replied to the report stating that he was sorry and that he doesn’t have a racist bone in his heart.
Now, the Raiders are speaking out on the situation, as team owner Mark Davis has released a statement on the matter. As you can imagine, the Raiders are not happy with their head coach, and they are going to reprimand him, accordingly.
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Per Mark Davis:
“The content of an email regarding DeMaurice Smith from Jon Gruden when he worked for ESPN 10 years ago is disturbing and not what the Raiders stand for. We were first made aware of the email late yesterday by a reporter and are reviewing it along with other materials provided to us today by the NFL. We are addressing the matter with Coach Gruden and will have no further comment at this time.”
Gruden currently coaches a team that is filled with black players. With that in mind, the revelations from this past week could strain his relationship with his players. Needless to say, the Raiders situation will be interesting to track over the coming weeks.