In emails detailed by The New York Times, Raiders Coach Jon Gruden casually used misogynistic and homophobic language to disparage people. That was the biggest news in 2021 that would ultimately lead to Gruden having to step down from his head coaching position.
This week, a new report is diving more into what happened during that time.
ESPN’s Dan Van Natta and Seth Wickersham dropped a damning article this week on the leaked emails that ultimately led to the ousting of Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
It turns out NFL commissioner Roger Goodell applied pressure on the Raiders’ front office to get rid of Gruden, but Mark Davis had every plan to keep him aboard before he received that daunting phone call.
“There’s more emails coming,” Goodell told Davis. “Something has to be done.”
When the call ended, Davis turned to Ventrelle.
“Motherf—er,” Davis said in exasperation.
On Monday, Oct. 11, The New York Times published a story revealing new emails in which Gruden wrote that Goodell was “clueless” and “anti-football” and described him in anti-gay and misogynistic terms. That evening, Gruden resigned, pushed by Davis.
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The leaked emails were from a time when Gruden was an ESPN analyst and not a coach. Gruden was only five games into the 2021 season which was his fourth year back with the Raiders after previously serving as their head coach from 1998 to 2001.
At the time of his firing, Gruden was replaced on an interim basis by Rich Bisaccia, who led the Raiders to the playoffs. Vegas would make a major change and hired longtime New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels as its new head coach.
