Media Coverage of Gruden’s Emails Should Not Stop With Disgraced Ex-Raiders Coach

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Jon Gruden resigned on Monday night as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders following a New York Times report that he sent racist, homophobic and misogynistic emails between 2010 and 2018.

The media coverage of Gruden – who is White and already came under fire in the aftermath of a Wall Street Journal report on Oct. 8 about an email he sent in 2010 to NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is Black, that included a racial trope – must not stop with Gruden himself as those emails were part of the 650,000 emails that were part of NFL’s investigation of the alleged toxic workplace of the Washington Football Team.

While it was right to hold Gruden accountable for what was not a one-off, but rather a pattern of behavior between 2010 and 2018, when he became the Raiders head coach after accepting a 10-year contract worth $100 million, others must be held accountable for conduct worse than the content of the emails.

Washington Football Team owner Dan Snyder, whose net worth is $4 billion and whose team is worth $4.2 billion, apparently did nothing to stem what was reportedly a toxic workplace for female employees, including the team’s cheerleaders. Instead of forcing Snyder to sell the team, the NFL gave him a slap on the wrist by fining him $10 million and allowing his wife to take over day-to-day operations. And the NFL allowed Snyder to buy out the minority stakeholders that allowed him to own 100 percent of his team. Gruden was at ESPN at the time he sent those emails, which were not expected to be part of the investigation of the WFT.

The media should press commissioner Roger Goodell on why Snyder got a slap on the wrist, while Gruden ended up being the fall guy, and it should ask Goodell why there was no written report behind those investigating the WFT. Additionally, the press should demand to see all the emails and materials from and reviewed in the investigation.

Speaking of double standards, Richard Sherman, Tyreek Hill, Kareem Hunt have a history of alleged domestic violence, yet those star players are still on the gridiron as opposed to out of the league.

The press could ask the league why there has not been a persistent awareness campaign, similar to the one in support of Black Lives Matter, regarding domestic violence, which is a major issue among Black women. And the press should continuously ask Goodell about why players who commit or are accused of domestic violence are not banned from the NFL. It is inexplicable that those players are still in the NFL while Gruden isn’t.

While on the topic of double standards, as Outkick founder Clay Travis pointed out on Tuesday in response to Gruden’s resignation, the rappers who’ll be performing at Super Bowl – Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Kendrick Lamar (along with Mary J. Blige) – have songs with “more offensive lyrics than Jon Gruden had in his emails.”

“How does the NFL reconcile the difference in treatment? These are questions all sports media would be asking if they were real journalists,” tweeted Travis. A good point.

Every rapper the NFL has performing at the Super Bowl has more offensive lyrics than Jon Gruden had in his emails. How does the NFL reconcile the difference in treatment? These are questions all sports media would be asking if they were real journalists.

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 12, 2021

It’s the job of the press to truthfully hold those in power accountable and push for transparency. It did so with Gruden and now it should do so with the other aforementioned characters and those like them. To not do so would be to aid and abet the double standards and corruption in the NFL.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.