The Las Vegas Raiders: a name that still feels wrong for old-school football fans who are not used to the Raiders’ new home. The organization recently stepped away from Oakland and moved a half mile from the Las Vegas Strip, into a new two billion dollar stadium nicknamed “The Death Star.” This season marks a new start for the team, which is currently ahead of the 2019 Super Bowl winners, the Kansas City Chiefs. Sitting at a 3-2 record, the Raiders have overperformed, but that new start, that chance to win, has now been overshadowed by the current “scandal of the season.”
Jon Gruden resigned as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, October 11th. The announcement came just hours after the New York Times released details of emails sent by Gruden containing misogynistic and homophobic language. Gruden, a previous super bowl winning coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a former coach of the Raiders from 1998 to 2001, rejoined the team again in 2018 after a brief stint as a Monday Night Football (MNF) commentator. After receiving a record-breaking contract, Gruden will not finish it, losing about 60 million dollars in the process, but no amount of money makes up for the degrading comments and possible mental harm inflicted by his words. Gruden’s grievances centered around the new changes in the game. His emails denounced the hiring of female referees, mocked the drafting of an openly gay player, and voiced his intolerance of players protesting during the national anthem.
The homophobic language appeared throughout his email messages, specifically referring to Michael Sam, the openly gay player drafted in 2014. He wrote that the league’s commissioner should not have pressured former coach of the Los Angeles Rams to “draft q***r.” He proceeded to use homophobic slurs about the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, among other hateful language. Gruden also made racist comments about the Black director of the NFL Players Association. The New York Times reported that he “criticized [DeMaurice] Smith’s intelligence and used a racist trope to describe his face.” While the majority of incriminating emails, written by Gruden to Bruce Allen, former Washington Football Team’s president (who also participated in the verbal hate), were during his years detached from any particular organization, he was still very much an influence in the league and continued to play a prominent role in football. In announcing his resignation, Gruden said, “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.” While the Raiders hoped to move quickly past this incident and beat the Denver Broncos on Sunday, October 14 under the guidance of interim head coach Rich Bisaccia, this event has become more evidence of the corrupt inner circle of white men at the top of the NFL.
Work Cited:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/11/sports/football/what-did-jon-gruden-say.html
https://gamboool.com/las-vegas-raiders-stadium-location-map-distance-from-the-strip
