Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigns after racist, homophobic, misogynistic emails surface

UPDATE: Special teams coach Rich Bisaccia is expected to replace Jon Gruden as Raiders interim head coach, per ESPN’s Suzy Kolber.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is resigning his position, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Raiders beat writer Vic Tafur has since confirmed the news.

Multiple emails sent by Jon Gruden while an analyst at ESPN show a pattern of homophobic, misogynistic and racist comments. Gruden’s emails were discovered as the NFL investigated workplace misconduct within the Washington Football Team. Text from these emails have been surfacing, with the latest coming in a New York Times article.

In his emails, Gruden attacked NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for pressuring then Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “queers,’ referring to then draft prospect Michael Sam. He denigrated Goodell for trying to reduce concussions and attacked players protesting police violence against the black community. He went after NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, making a racist comment about his facial features, and later denounced women referees. If something progressive was happening in the league, he was vehemently against it.

Gruden tried to deflect the news early on when his comments about Smith surfaced, but the newer report from the New York Times was an avalanche of awful behavior that was not going to stand. Unfortunately, this shows a pattern of behavior beyond just Gruden, as he felt fine sending these emails to a group of influential people connected to the NFL, including then president of the Washington Football Team, Bruce Allen.