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Jon Gruden's stint as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders may be in the rearview mirror. But the former Raiders coach still has some regrets about how it all went down. Gruden resigned from his head coach role last year following the release of homophobic and misogynistic emails that he had sent.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Raiders coach touched base at the Little Rock Touchdown club earlier this week. This was essentially his first public appearance in 11 months.
Gruden said he was ashamed of the emails, before adding that he still believes himself to be a good person.
“I’m ashamed about what has come about in these emails, and I’ll make no excuses for it. It’s shameful. But, I am a good person. I believe that. I go to church. I’ve been married for 31 years. I’ve got three great boys. I still love football. I’ve made some mistakes. But I don’t think anybody in here hasn’t."
That wasn't all. Gruden added that he's asking for forgiveness and he's hoping for another shot at a coaching gig in the NFL.
"And I just ask for forgiveness and, hopefully, I get another shot."
It remains unclear as to how effective an apology this will prove to be. It seems highly unlikely that he will get another chance in the NFL.
The Jon Gruden email scandal
Oh, boy, where to start. The Jon Gruden scandal traces its origins to the NFL's investigation into the Washington franchise's toxic workplace culture. During the league's investigation, it came across a collection of emails Gruden had sent to former team president Bruce Allen.
In those emails, Gruden used racist descriptions and language. He severely criticized the emergence of female referees. He also criticized what he thought was pressure from the league to hire gay players. Gruden even used homophobic language to describe NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
When the emails came to light in October 2021, Jon Gruden stepped down as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. In a statement announcing his departure, Gruden said that he didn't want to be a distraction to the franchise, before apologizing to the fans.
Gruden, however, is still in the process of suing the NFL. A month after announcing his departure as head coach, Jon Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL. He is alleging that the league forced the Raiders to terminate his contract. Gruden also accused the NFL of selectively leaking the emails to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. He believes they did this to harm his reputation and force him out of the job.
In May of this year, Clark County District Court Judge Nancy Allf ruled against the NFL's request to dismiss Gruden's claim.
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