NFL Reacts Strongly To Reported Gruden Racist Email Comment
Oct 8, 2021, 3:09 PM | Updated: 3:11 pm
(Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)
AP – The NFL reacted strongly and quickly Friday to a report that Jon Gruden used a racist comment about NFL Players Association leader DeMaurice Smith in an email 10 years ago.
A Wall Street Journal story noted Gruden, then working for ESPN and now coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, referred in a racist way to Smith’s facial features.
Jon Gruden, head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, used a racist trope when describing the top NFL players' executive in a 2011 email https://t.co/FYHLHqrOsY
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) October 8, 2021
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the email from Gruden is “appalling, abhorrent and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values.”
Statement from the NFL: "The email from Jon Gruden denigrating DeMaurice Smith is appalling, abhorrent and wholly contrary to the NFL’s values. We condemn the statement and regret any harm that its publication may inflict on Mr. Smith or anyone else." https://t.co/FSpVIv6D4t
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 8, 2021
McCarthy added that the league condemns the statement and regrets any harm “its publication may inflict on Mr. Smith or anyone else.”