Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden Resigns After Racist, Homophobic Emails Surface

Jon Gruden stepped down Monday as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders football team hours after The New York Times detailed emails in which he casually used misogynistic and homophobic language to disparage people, following an earlier report of racist statements about a union leader.

“I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” he said on Twitter in a statement issued by the team.

“I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.”

"I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone."

Jon Gruden

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) October 12, 2021

Mark Davis, the owner of the Raiders, said in a statement that he had accepted the resignation.

The New York Times on Monday night reported that emails from last decade showed Gruden called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a “f*ggot” and a “clueless anti football p*ssy,” among other things.

Gruden also ranted that the Rams franchise drafted “queers” like Michael Sam, who was the NFL’s first openly gay player.

“In numerous emails during a seven-year period ending in early 2018, Gruden criticized Goodell and the league for trying to reduce concussions and said that Eric Reid, a player who had demonstrated during the playing of the national anthem, should be fired,” reported the Times. “In several instances, Gruden used a homophobic slur to refer to Goodell and offensive language to describe some N.F.L. owners, coaches and journalists who cover the league.”

Gruden has served as the Raiders head coach for the past four-plus seasons, and he accumulated a record of 22 wins and 31 losses in that time. Gruden won a Super Bowl in 2003 as head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.