Jon Gruden deserved to be gone from the Raiders: 1) He has not produced a consistent winner, even after being given what amounted to full control of the team and its personnel for three full years, and 2) His emails containing what most perceive as racist and misogynistic comments were terrible, even though they were written over a decade ago. If anything, his resignation will help the team, as it is now out from under Gruden's contract and can move forward without keeping him under contract for nearly 7 more years.
The Raiders have always stood for "Just Win Baby," which in essence is a non-discrimination statement. I've always loved the Raiders for their ability to look beyond skin color and other attributes to treat players equitably. Al Davis never cared about one's sexual orientation or the color of one's skin. Never. Mark Davis doesn't either as one of his closest friends was Cliff Branch, whom he represented against his father when Cliff wanted a new contract.
Despite what blame lies with Gruden, it's also abundantly clear that the NFL wanted Gruden GONE. Someone in the NFL selectively leaked emails from Gruden to get him out of the league. The message was clear. The email about the size of the lips of the NFLPA head was a warning shot. If Gruden didn't resign, more would be revealed, which occurred. The second batch of leaked emails forced Gruden's hand and he resigned. The drip, drip, drip may have continued for days or even weeks -- until Gruden resigned.
This was a hit job by the NFL and the news media, working in collaboration. Out of thousands of emails all obtained as part of an investigation into the Washington Football Team and its work environment, only emails from Jon Gruden were released? I'm throwing the bullshit flag. There is likely a treasure trove of information within those emails, which the NFL has hidden from public view. If Gruden was making these types of comments, he likely would only write to people he KNEW shared his views.
Think about it. The NFL is comprised of a lot of men, "men's men" so to speak. Coaches are former players. Front office personnel are former players. Many are ridiculously rich who believe they can always get what they want when they want it. Many have been coddled their entire lives by society. They have been told through words and actions that they are above the rules. They were treated differently when in high school, when in college and then while playing in the NFL. They were told through much of their lives that they were "special." They were elite athletes, given special classes, special tutoring and various favors by the public, including free meals at nearly any restaurant in their city.
While in Oakland several years back, I went to a local place and talked to a waitress. She told me a story about a former Raiders assistant coach who flat out kissed her on the lips. This was essentially an assault. Was she lying? I don't think so. I think this is pretty commonplace.
But if this happened once, it's happened thousands of times -- and worse.
I've heard a number of stories about a very prominent NFL player. If I mentioned his name you would recognize it immediately. He's the face of one franchise and has been for years. I worked with a young lady at one small business who told me that while taking a picture with him when she was only 16, he tried to grab her butt. She told him "No!" in no uncertain terms and pushed him away. She was a teenager and he was a grown man then. Still is.
While sitting in a bar one day a couple of years ago, I talked with a family member of one of this same player's former teammates. He told me a story that sent chills down my spine and made me very angry. It seems that this prominent player grabbed the crotch of his teammate's daughter -- a close relative of the guy I was talking with at the bar. The teammate literally had to be separated from this famous player -- to keep from killing him. He was THAT angry. If someone touched my daughter the way this prominent player did, I would likely want to kill him, too -- at least make him want to NOT ever touch anyone else's daughter ever again.
So, how is it that this player's actions have not resulted in this player being thrown out of the league? As I've said all along, the NFL stands for No Fair League. The NFL has protected THIS player and the player's franchise, while clearly targeting Gruden and the Raiders. Gruden did wrong and should be gone. But Gruden is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
A lot of NFL front office people and coaches are VERY nervous after seeing what happened to Gruden. Will they be next? What other emails will be released? Will they be targeted, too?
While Gruden's resignation is front page news, the story that isn't being reported on is how the NFL selectively leaked information from an internal investigation -- and why. The NFL is like a leaky faucet when it comes to player drug tests and other confidential information. Someone within the NFL is leaking worse than the Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
Should this leak of Gruden's emails surprise anyone? It shouldn't, but it should also anger us all. If the NFL would target a coach to force him out of the league, who ordered this or knew about it? That may be an even bigger story than the Gruden resignation and it could bring down the NFL.