Tag Archives: Jon Gruden

Dan Snyder, Commanders leaked emails that got Jon Gruden fired

The call is coming from inside the house.

Bruce Allen, the former general manager of the Washington Commanders franchise, testified to the U.S. House of Representatives that owner Dan Snyder and his staff were the ones who leaked a series of racist, homophobic and misogynistic emails between Allen and former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

Allen testified that he was told by an NFL executive, and the move was made in an attempt to shift blame off Snyder as the team was the subject of numerous investigations into workplace misconduct.

“By June 2021, Mr. Snyder went one step further: he identified for the NFL ‘specific inappropriate Bruce Allen e-mails’ to bolster the claims that Mr. Allen was to blame for the toxic workplace culture,” the report issued by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform read.

“Public reports indicate that, although the NFL found Mr. Allen’s e-mails troubling, it determined that they were ‘outside the scope if the original probe into the Washington Football Team.’ Approximately four months later, in October 2021, Mr. Allen learned that many of the ‘inappropriate’ e-mails obtained by Mr. Snyder from his Commanders e-mail account had been leaked to the Wall Street Journal. According to Mr. Allen, when he called NFL’s counsel, Lisa Friel, to complain, she indicated that the Commanders were responsible for the leak, stating ‘We didn’t do it at the league office. It came out of their side.’”

Dan Snyder
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Bruce Allen
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Gruden, with whom Allen exchanged the emails, was the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders at the time of the leak, which occurred during the 2021 NFL season. In the emails, Gruden said then-NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith “had lips the size of michellin [sic] tires,” while also ripping female referees, players who kneeled for the National Anthem and the Rams for drafting openly gay player Michael Sam.

Snyder had been facing a wide variety of allegations of his own. Congress opened a probe into a variety of workplace misconduct claims, with female employees alleging wide-scale sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior. Snyder himself was also accused of sexual misconduct by a woman in a 2009 incident on the team plane.

The report found that Snyder had a direct role in the sexual misconduct the team was being investigated for, with allegations including he inappropriately touched a woman at a team dinner, among other accusations.

Jon Gruden
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With the walls closing in on Snyder, Allen is alleging that he leaked the emails to the Wall Street Journal in order to blame the team’s former GM for the workplace culture.

Gruden bore the brunt of the leak, as he was fired by the Raiders after the emails surfaced. He has attempted to defend himself by saying he doesn’t “have a racial bone in his body” in response to the email about Smith. Gruden is in the midst of suing the NFL to uncover who was behind the leaks.

Snyder, who has owned Washington since 1999, has taken initial steps to sell the team, hiring Bank of America Securities to facilitate a potential sale.

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Raiders Hall of Famer Rod Woodson Lands Head Coaching Job in XFL


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Las Vegas Raiders helmet.

The Raiders broke ground in 2020 when they became the first NFL team in Las Vegas. The move has turned into a massive success as the team was No. 1 in the NFL in net gate revenue, generating $119 million, per Front Office Sports. It’s becoming obvious that Las Vegas is a gold mine for the sports world as NBA and MLB teams could also join the market in the future.

In the meantime, the city will be adding an XFL team. The alternative football league to the NFL is being rebooted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia. There will only be eight teams to start and one of them will be in Las Vegas. Though the team doesn’t have a name yet, they’ll have a strong connection to the Raiders.

NFL Hall of Famer and former Raiders defensive back Rod Woodson will be the head coach of the Las Vegas XFL team.

Woodson has been trying to make his name in coaching since 2010 and was a cornerbacks coach for the Raiders in 2011 and 2017. He’s one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history but it remains to be seen how he’ll perform as a head coach. At the very least, he brings a lot of gravitas and star power to the Las Vegas XFL team.

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Woodson Ripped Jon Gruden After Getting Fired

When Jon Gruden was hired by the Raiders in 2018, he mostly cleaned house. There were sweeping changes made to the coaching staff and roster. Woodson was a causality as he was fired upon Gruden’s hiring. Instead of taking the high road, the Hall of Famer ripped into the coach back in 2018.

“I understand Gruden, wonderful on his TV gig, did some wonderful things as a coach, but he only won 53 percent of his games,” Woodson said on Fox Sports 1 . “Ten years, $100 million. I hope Mark Davis has an out. My question would be, how many Super Bowls do you have to win for $100 million? You give that deal to Bill Belichick. But to a Jon Gruden? It’s hard for me to understand.”

Four years later, it’s clear that Woodson was not wrong in his assessment of Gruden. He went 22-31 during his return to the Raiders and resigned after a number of offensive emails were leaked to the media. Perhaps owner Mark Davis would’ve been better off had he listened to people like Woodson.


Woodson Hasn’t Coached Since Raiders Stint

Just because Woodson was right about Gruden doesn’t mean he’ll be a great head coach. He has yet to land another job after he was fired by the Raiders in 2018. That could be due to the way he handled getting fired more so than due to his job performance.

Though the XFL is not the NFL, Woodson will have his best chance yet to show off his coaching ability. If he can build a really good team in Las Vegas, perhaps he’ll start getting NFL looks once again.

READ NEXT: Davante Adams Slams ‘Idiots’ for Misinterpreting Derek Carr Quote



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Adam Schefter roped into Jon Gruden drama over email to Bruce Allen

Jon Gruden’s inflammatory emails, in which he used derogatory and racially insensitive language that led to him resigning as head coach from the Raiders, were part of an investigation of the Washington Football Team by the NFL. The league seized over 650,000 emails, according to several reports.

It’s possible that there are damaging things for a lot of people in those emails, but one interesting tidbit was revealed in a June court filing that led to the revelation of Gruden’s words. In July 2011 during the NFL lockout, ESPN insider Adam Schefter sent an email of an unpublished story to then-Washington GM Bruce Allen, asking for feedback.

“Please let me know if you see anything that should be added, changed, tweaked,” Schefter wrote to Allen, according to the Los Angeles Times. “Thanks, Mr. Editor, for that and the trust. Plan to file this to espn about 6 am ….”

Per the LA Times, the court filing was part of Washington owner Dan Snyder’s defamation lawsuit in India, in which he was trying to compel Allen to produce information.

ESPN shared a statement in response to the discovery.

Adam Schefter and Jon Gruden
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“Without sharing all the specifics of the reporter’s process for a story from 10 years ago during the NFL lockout, we believe that nothing is more important to Adam and ESPN than providing fans the most accurate, fair and complete story,” the statement read.

Schefter is arguably the top insider in all of NFL media, and consistently breaks the top stories in the league. It’s not particularly surprising to hear he has a relationship with important league figures – but the extent of that relationship may come as a surprise, especially with a league figure who has been under immense fire.

Allen was the person Gruden shared his derogatory remarks with, in which he used the words “p–sy,” “fa—t” and “queers” to describe league figures and shared topless photos of Washington cheerleaders, among other offenses.

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Keyshawn Johnson calls Jon Gruden a ‘fraud’ after resignation

Jon Gruden has “always been a fraud” in Keyshawn Johnson’s eyes.

On Tuesday, the former NFL wide receiver went off about his former coach after Gruden resigned as head coach of the Raiders in wake of a disturbing email controversy.

Gruden announced his resignation on Monday night after emails from 2011 through 2018, obtained by the New York Times, exposed his use of racist, homophobic and misogynistic language.

“He’s always been a fraud to me. From day one, he’s been a used car salesman, and people bought it,” Johnson said on his ESPN Radio show, “Keyshawn, JWill and Max.”

Johnson played for Gruden in 2002 and 2003 as a member of the Buccaneers. The pair went on to win a Super Bowl together in 2002, after Gruden succeeded former Bucs coach Tony Dungy.

While Johnson said he’s “grateful” for Gruden’s push to help the team win a Super Bowl, he said, “I also saw through who he was through that journey of getting a championship.”

Johnson then recalled that the next year, then-Bucs general manager Rich McKay “left in the middle of the season to go take another job with another team because he didn’t want to be around [Gruden].”

Johnson later appeared on ESPN’s “First Take,” where he continued to slam the disgraced Gruden.

“But it’s the talking behind peoples back — that was one of his traits in Tampa…he was doing that a lot,” Johnson said.

Keyshawn Johnson and Jon Gruden
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Johnson and Gruden never got along, according to the three-time Pro Bowl receiver, who previously opened up about their rocky player-coach relationship after the Bucs deactivated him for the final six games of the 2003 season.

“I was never Gruden’s guy. He never liked me. I told him I’d rather retire than play for him in 2004,” Johnson told ESPN in November 2003.

The Raiders will continue their season on Sunday when they visit the Broncos in Week 6. Rich Bisaccia, previously the special teams coordinator, is taking over as interim head coach.



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Jon Gruden resigns as head coach of Las Vegas Raiders following reports of offensive emails

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden has resign from his position, the Raiders announced Monday. The announcement came shortly after a report in the New York Times claimed that Gruden had sent a series of offensive emails while working as an analyst at ESPN.

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

In a follow-up statement posted on Twitter, team owner Mark Davis said he has accepted Gruden’s resignation. Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia will take over head coaching duties on an interim basis, the Raiders announced. Bisaccia was part of Gruden’s coaching staff in Tampa Bay and has been a member of the Raiders coaching staff for the entirety of Gruden’s second stint with the team. Gruden was in the fourth year of 10-year contract with the team at the time of his resignation.

According to the New York Times, league officials conducting a workplace misconduct investigation — of which Gruden was not the focus — uncovered emails in which he wrote negatively about women referees, gay NFL players and players who protested during the playing of the national anthem. Gruden did not respond to the Times’ request for comment. 

Gruden last week also came under fire when The Wall Street Journal unearthed a 2011 email in which he made disparaging remarks about DeMaurice Smith, the head of the NFL players union. 

“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” Gruden wrote, according to the Journal.

Gruden apologized for that comment at a post-game press conference Sunday.

“I’m not a racist,” Gruden said. “I can’t tell you how sick I am. I apologize again to D Smith, but I feel good about who I am and what I’ve done my entire life. … I had no racial intention with those remarks at all. I’m not like that at all. I apologize. I don’t want to keep addressing it.” 

Gruden began his second stint as the Raiders head coach in 2018, ending his tenure with a record of 22-31. He had previously coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002-2008, leading them to a Super Bowl win in his first season, and the then-Oakland Raiders from 1998-2001. 

From 2009 to 2017, Gruden worked as an NFL analyst and Monday Night Football commentator for ESPN.

The Raiders, currently 3-2 on the season, are scheduled to take on the Denver Broncos on Sunday in a battle of AFC West rivals.



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