Jon Gruden may be gone, but he is defintely not going quietly.
Last season, Jon Gruden was forced to resign from his role as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. This came after The New York Times uncovered that he used homophobic and misogynistic language in a series of emails sent years ago to former Washington general manager Bruce Allen and others around the league.
He was also caught using a racist trope to describe NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.
Bob LaMonte, the agent of former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, said Saturday the leak of his client’s racist, misogynistic and anti-gay emails was a “hit job.” He added that the 58-year-old Gruden was in a “state of shock” after his resignation from the Raiders after information about the emails was released, per Ira Kaufman of JoeBucsFan.
“And it was 10 years ago. And then why Jon and why the Raiders? He wasn’t even in the league at the time of those e-mails … that’s the tragedy of it,” LaMonte said. “You can say what you want, but if anyone really understands Jon, they know he’s not a racist. That’s quite obvious. No one would ever say that.”
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Gruden resigned as the Raiders’ head coach in October after those emails were discovered. No other emails found in the investigation have been publicly released.
Before his broadcasting career, he was head coach of the Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won the Super Bowl XXXVII title at the end of the 2002 season.
Unlikely to ever get back in the league again, Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Goodell in November, alleging the leak of the emails was an orchestrated attempt to “destroy [his] career and reputation.”
Earlier this year, a Nevada judge denied a motion by the NFL to dismiss the case.
“This wasn’t good for anybody,” LaMonte told Kaufman. “That’s why he ended up suing the NFL and Goodell—because everyone knows it was wrong. You have 650,000 e-mails and his six were picked out … and he wasn’t even in the league. He prevailed in court and he will prevail again.”
He also predicted a trial would be “devastating” to the league and said he expects Gruden will eventually return to the sideline.
“I really believe in my heart and soul he will coach again,” LaMonte said. “I’d be very surprised if he didn’t. My question is what did Jon really do? Most people wouldn’t want their private emails from 10 days ago looked at.”
He added: “I can tell you right now that was a hit job.”
