Jon Gruden coached in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, Greenbay Packers, and as of recently, the Las Vegas Raiders. His first NFL head coaching position was with the Raiders from 1998-2001. During this time, he accumulated two division titles and an AFC championship appearance. In 2002, Gruden was traded to the Buccaneers. Here, he would become the youngest head coach at the time, aged 39, to lead a team to a Super Bowl title. Overall, Gruden has had a successful coaching career, including six winning seasons. But, as of recently, everything has fallen apart.

   “I have resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Gruden told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapaport on Monday, October 11th. The root of his resignation came from the resurrection of controversial emails. According to the New York Times, “Gruden had casually and frequently unleashed misogynistic and homphobic language over several years to denigrate people around the game and to mock some of the league’s momentous changes.” Gruden had spoken badly towards female referees, a gay player, and players protesting the national anthem. 

   News of these emails arose during a separate investigation of the Washington Football Team regarding multiple allegations, including sexual harassment. The 58 year old’s offensive language was discovered while searching through roughly 650,000 emails, according to CBC Sports. According to Poynter, ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio says that this story has just begun and that there are now many other NFL executives that are worried about being exposed for their language.

   Ironically in June of this year, Raiders defensive end, Carl Nassib, became the first NFL player to come out as homosexual. To his Instagram, @carlnassib, he posted a video saying, “I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay.” This announcement caused a large reaction across the sports world. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement saying the league “is proud of Carl for courageously releasing his truth today.”

   Since news of these emails, Sketchers has terminated Gruden’s endorsement deal. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have also dropped Gruden from their Ring of Honor, which lists prominent ex-coaches and players. Following the loss of their head coach, the Raiders special teams coordinator, Rich Bisaccia, has been promoted to interim head coach.