Who would have thought that the vote to extend DeMaurice Smith’s tenure as executive director of the NFLPA would come with so much controversy?
It all started when news broke of Jon Gruden’s racist remarks regarding Smith in an e-mail he sent 10 years ago to then-Washington Football Team president Bruce Allen. The email, in which Gruden claimed “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” was sent as the NFL appeared to be headed towards a lockout.
Gruden has since apologized for his comments, claiming he often refers to people who lie as having “rubber lips,” as he felt Smith wasn’t being honest in his negotiations at the time. Despite his explanation, he could still be facing some form of punishment from the Raiders organization and/or the NFL.
As for Smith, the NFLPA’s team representatives voted to have him remain in his position for the time being — a move that Jason Whitlock feels Jon Gruden played a part in, albeit unintentionally.
According to Whitlock, he believed Smith’s reps held onto this story and purposely released it now, with the NFLPA vote looming. He feels as though Gruden is being used as a pawn in DeMaurice Smith’s retention of his executive director position, and that the NFL players are “simps” for allowing him to get away with it:
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These types of comments are nothing new coming from Whitlock. The controversial sports personality has been in the news quite often over the past few years as he pits himself in a battle against some unknown (seemingly made-up) force that he apparently refers to as “Black Twitter.”
