Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigns over email scandal

Jon Gruden has resigned as the Las Vegas Raiders head coach after an explosive report Monday night in the New York Times revealed he used homophobic and misogynistic language in emails over a seven-year period ending in 2018.

“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden said in a statement. “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.”

Only a few days after a first email leak caught Gruden using racist language, an investigation uncovered more emails showing that Gruden mocked the drafting of the first openly gay player in NFL history, criticized the emergence of women in the NFL as officials and called for the dismissal of players protesting the playing of the national anthem, according to the Times.

Raiders owner Mark Davis met with Gruden to accept the Super Bowl-winning coach’s resignation, according to ESPN and NFL Network.

Gruden’s emails, from as far back as 2011, were sent to then-Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen and others while he worked for ESPN as a “Monday Night Football” analyst and NFL draft quarterback guru. Throughout a seven-year period as an omnipresent media figure, Gruden was one of the most coveted available coaches in the league before securing a whopping 10-year, $100 million contract with the Raiders.

Gruden’s homophobic language included calling NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a “f—–” who should not have pressured then-Rams coach Jeff Fisher into drafting “queers” like Michael Sam. The Rams made Sam a seventh-round draft pick in 2014.

While Sam never made it to a regular-season game, the Raiders’ Carl Nassib became the first openly gay player to appear in the regular season just this year. In what now rings like a phony endorsement, Gruden told the Las Vegas Journal Review after Nassib revealed his sexual orientation in June, that he “learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great.”