Sports

Jon Gruden Suing NFL, Roger Goodell Amid Email Scandal

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Jon Gruden is suing the NFL and its commissioner Roger Goodell the former Las Vegas Raiders coach has filed a lawsuit, claiming that his emails, were “selectively leaked” in order to “force him out of his job,” according to his attorney via ESPN. Gruden’s attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner said the lawsuit was filed in Clark County, Nevada. 

“The complaint alleges that the defendants selectively leaked Gruden’s private correspondence to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times in order to harm Gruden’s reputation and force him out of his job,” Hosmer-Henner said. “There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden’s emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL’s investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders’ season.”  

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Gruden announced his resignation from the Raiders in October following reports that he sent emails that included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language. The emails were discovered as part of the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football team as there were claims of workplace misconduct. 

Shortly after resigning, Gruden was cold-called by a producer of the show Real Sports with Bryant Gumble and opened up about the situation. Maggie Burbank, who produced the story that we just did on Mark Davis, she actually called Gruden and he picked up the phone, much to I think her surprise,” Andrea Kremer said. “And he’s still in Las Vegas. . . . He says he’s letting the dust settle. He said, ‘People who know me know what I stand for 58 years. I have a resume of 58 years.’ He said, ‘The truth will come out.’ It’s certainly cryptic.”   

Gruden, 58, was hired by the Raiders in 2018 after spending nine years with ESPN. From 2002-2008, Gruden was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and led the team to a Super Bowl win in his first season. He came to Tampa after spending four seasons as the Raiders head coach. In his first stint with the Raiders, Gruden went 40-28 record (including playoffs) before being traded to the Buccaneers. In his career, Gruden has posted a 117-112 record in the regular season and a 5-4 record in the playoffs.