Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden apologized Friday after a leaked email from 2011 came to light in which he referred to NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith using a racial stereotype.
Gruden sent the email during the 2011 NFL lockout to Bruce Allen, who was the GM of the Washington Redskins at the time. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Gruden said, “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin [sic] tires,” the email read.
Gruden apologized to the WSJ, saying he is “really sorry” and that he refers to liars as “rubber lips.” “I don’t think he’s dumb,” Gruden told the Journal. “I don’t think he’s a liar. I don’t have a racial bone in my body, and I’ve proven that for 58 years.”
Soon after the news, the Raiders front office sent out a statement.
Smith has since released a statement as well.
“This is not the first racist comment that I’ve heard and it probably will not be the last,” the statement read. “Racism like this comes from the fact that I’m at the same table as they are and they don’t think someone who looks like me belongs.”
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Gruden, who was employed at the time as the lead analyst for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, stated he has spoke with the Raiders’ players to give them a heads-up that the Journal’s report would be coming out.
“I’m transparent with my players,” Gruden told ESPN.
He also said, “That might not have been the best time of my life,” referring to the lockout. “I vented a lot. … I never felt we were getting the truth and honesty [in negotiations]. I just felt that [former NFLPA executive director] Gene Upshaw never would have let it get that far.”
“I’m ashamed I insulted D. Smith,” Gruden said, adding, “I never had a racial thought when I used it. … I’m embarrassed by what’s out there. I certainly never meant for it to sound that bad.”
Gruden is in the middle of his fourth season as the head coach of the Raiders and as gotten off to a 3-1 start in 2021.
