Raiders coach canceled himself

By Dave Mondt

Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021 | 2 a.m.

The Raider Nation is used to having seemingly unfair calls go against their team — on the field (see the controversial "Tuck Rule" call that bounced the team out of the playoffs in 2002) and off the field (the league voted to give the Los Angeles market to the Chargers instead of the area’s most popular team?).

But coach Jon Gruden’s resignation Monday night was not an unfair call against the team. It wasn’t the result of the woke mob pressuring the owner into forcing him out, and it wasn’t the cabal of NFL executives conspiring to wreak havoc on what began as a promising season for the Las Vegas Raiders.

No, in this case, Gruden did this to himself, and even he knows that.

While his official resignation announcement may sound like public relations boilerplate — “I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction,” he said in a statement— it’s no less true.

The fact is, every minute that the team isn’t preparing for its opponent, it’s losing ground to teams that are focused on the singular mission of achieving victory on the field.

It’s possible that the players in the Raiders locker room could have forgiven their coach for a comment he made in a private email 10 years ago — even one as ghastly as the racial trope he used to describe a Black leader in an industry mostly run by white men. They could have convinced themselves that it was a one-time error in judgment made in the heat of the moment by an angry but passionate man who felt his own livelihood threatened. Just because he hit below the belt one time, doesn’t mean it’s indicative of his character, right? We all make mistakes.

But the trove of revelations that followed was too much to excuse. Character and integrity are defined by what you say and how you act when the spotlight is not on you. Closeted gay people know that because they get to hear what people say when they don’t know there’s a gay person around. So the homophobia in Gruden’s emails probably isn’t disqualifying for, say, Carl Nassib, the first openly gay player on an active NFL roster — Gruden’s roster. Surely he’s seen and heard worse over a lifetime spent in locker rooms, and already knew the pervasiveness of such attitudes. For that matter, he may even feel good about having played a part in changing Gruden’s heart and mind. The coach was effusive in his praise of Nassib in June, when the defensive end came out of the closet.

But the racism and misogyny present in Gruden’s emails over several years — those characteristics are often reserved for homogeneous audiences. So it can be particularly difficult to earn trust back from Black players who wonder if that one racist trope is just the tip of the iceberg, or if it’s a regular part of his vocabulary. Same with sexism. Amy Trask, who was CEO of the organization during Gruden’s first stint as coach of the Raiders, wouldn’t have been in the room when such language was used. But now she knows. And now every woman knows, including the women referees now employed by the league.

Gruden may be collateral damage in an investigation that had nothing to do with him. He may not be the only NFL coach or general manager guilty of such Neanderthal thinking. Nonetheless, the Raiders organization has been one of the most inclusive, meritocratic and forward-thinking in all of sports since Al Davis took over the Silver and Black.

Gruden tarnished that legacy, is not representative of the organization’s culture, and is therefore not fit to be the face of the franchise.

Dave Mondt is managing editor/news for Greenspun Media Group.