Jon Gruden resigns as Raiders head coach after racist, homophobic emails surface
- Jon Gruden is out as head coach of the Raiders.
- Gruden's resignation comes after a report from the New York Times found emails with Gruden using racist and homophobic language.
Jon Gruden resigned as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday night.
Gruden's resignation comes after reports in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times report detailed emails from Gruden in which he repeatedly used racist and homophobic language.
A representative for the Raiders did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Gruden made his resignation official in a statement, saying he didn't want to be a distraction to the team.
Last Friday, Gruden came under scrutiny when the Wall Street Journal surfaced a decade-old email in which he used racist language while criticizing DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association.
"Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires," Gruden wrote of Smith, who is Black, in an email to then-Washington Football Team President Bruce Allen.
When Gruden sent the email, he was a broadcaster on "Monday Night Football" for ESPN and not coaching in the NFL.
On Monday, the New York Times report detailed additional emails from Gruden dating back years that included racist and homophobic language.
Per the NYT:
"In the emails, Gruden called the league's commissioner, Roger Goodell, a "f----t" and a "clueless anti football pussy" and said that Goodell should not have pressured Jeff Fisher, then the coach of the Rams, to draft "queers," a reference to Michael Sam, a gay player chosen by the team in 2014."
In other emails, Gruden argued that Eric Reid, an NFL player that protested police brutality alongside Colin Kaepernick by kneeling during the national anthem, should be fired, per the Times.
According to ESPN's Suzy Kolber, Raiders' assistant Rich Bisaccia is expected to replace Jon Gruden as the team's interim head coach.