Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden Resigns Amid Email Investigation

Jon Gruden, the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders resigned yesterday after reports of homophobic, racist and misogynistic emails. In a statement released by the team, Gruden said “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 tweeted that he accepted Gruden’s resignation.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Gruden used racially insensitive language to describe the NFL Players Association Director Demaurice Smith in an email from 2011. On Monday the New York Times reported it reviewed additional emails and found the head coach had denounced women being employed as on-field officials, a team drafting an openly gay player and the tolerance for National Anthem protestors. Many of the emails involved in the investigation were sent to Bruce Allen the Washington Football Team’s president at the time who was fired in December of 2019. The emails were presented to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last week.