NFL Overreactions Week 17
Sports Seriously’s Mackenzie Salmon breaks down this weeks NFL matchups.
Sports Seriously
This is a reminder. Call it a public service announcement for teams reportedly interested in Jon Gruden. This is a reminder of what Gruden said. A reminder of how ugly it was.
Apparently, people need this reminder. Teams need it. Maybe many of you might, too. So here’s the reminder. Please bookmark it because in these coming months you will likely hear Gruden’s name a lot, and this reminder needs to be front and center of all these conversations.
It was reported in 2021 by the Wall Street Journal that Gruden used a racist trope in an email about then union head DeMaurice Smith. This is what Gruden wrote about Smith, who is Black: “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires.”
Gruden’s emails also contained anti-gay and misogynistic messages. Gruden apologized but it wasn’t enough. The totality of the emails was so bad that he would resign from the Raiders a short time later.
What Gruden said about Smith relied on a racist trope that goes back centuries, and just as important as the racist email itself, Gruden said it believing no one would ever see his words. This was unfiltered Gruden. This was ugly, nasty work.
“All I can say is that I’m not a racist,” Gruden said at the time. “I can’t tell you how sick I am. I apologize again to De Smith, but I feel good about who I am and what I’ve done my entire life. I apologize for the insensitive remarks. I had no racial intentions with those remarks at all. But… yes, they can… I’m not like that at all. I apologize but I don’t want to keep addressing it.”
I’m not racist but I used a really racist phrase.
Why do NFL teams need this reminder? Because Gruden is drawing interest from teams to become a head coach again. I believe this interest is serious. I believe it is extensive. I believe it is real.
The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported on Tuesday that NFL teams are doing extensive research on Gruden.
“Keep an eye on Jon Gruden,” Pelissero said to Peter Schrager. “We have not seen Gruden on a full-time basis in the NFL since back in 2021, when he resigned after offensive emails were leaked to the media that he had sent while working as an analyst at ESPN. However, he has remained engaged. We saw him on the sidelines with the Bucs owners earlier this fall. We saw him with the Saints back in training camp last year. My understanding is, if he had wanted the Saints’ offensive coordinator job last year, he could have had it. He ultimately decided he was not going to do that.
“What I can tell you though, Peter, it’s not to say for sure Jon Gruden will be back,” Pelissero said. “But there are multiple teams who are doing extensive homework on Jon Gruden, the situation, him as a coach, him as a person. I would not be surprised at all if, in the coming weeks, you see Jon Gruden’s name popping up interviewing for a head coaching job.”
Teams will rationalize their interest by saying time has passed. Or they’ll speak to people of color who will vouch for Gruden. Or the old standby: Gruden has grown as a person. They won’t care about the massive damage Gruden caused. They will only care that he’s a good coach. They’ll say he should be forgiven.
Forgive? I’ll leave that to popes and saints (and not the football ones from New Orleans). Teams can do whatever the hell they want but that doesn’t mean people who believe in decency should put what Gruden did behind us.
Yes, it’s true, there are bad people in the NFL (and even more really good people). But Gruden was a leader. He was a head coach. There’s just a different level of accountability and responsibility for people in his position.
There are simply lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Gruden did. Thinking no one was looking. There’s no coming back from that.
So, yes, this is a reminder. A lot of us haven’t forgotten. We never will.
Nor should we.