By Josh Dubow -
The Associated Press
Jon Gruden resigned Monday night as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after a series of emails he sent before being hired in 2018 surfaced with racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments.
"I have resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and I do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff and fans of the Raider Nation.
Sorry, I never wanted to hurt anyone,
" he explained it's a statement.
Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden resigned over his homophobic and sexist comments.Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images
His resignation comes after The New York Times reported that Gruden frequently used misogynistic and homophobic language
against Commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the NFL
.
Special teams and assistant head coach Rich Bisaccia will now assume their duties on an interim basis.
The fall of Gruden, who was in the fourth year of his 10-year contract with the Raiders for $ 100 million, began on Friday when another newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, reported that he had used
a racist term
to describe the union boss. NFL player DeMaurice Smith in a 2011 email sent to Bruce Allen when he was general manager for the Washington Redskins.
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Gruden and Allen have known each other for years, having worked together on the Raiders when the franchise was in Oakland and the Tampa Bay.
The emails were discovered in an investigation into workplace misconduct by the Washington team.
The emails also revealed that Gruden
denounced the recruitment of a gay player and tolerance towards players who protest during the national anthem
, among other issues.
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The former Raiders coach has apologized for his "
insensitive comments
" about Smith, saying they were made at a time of frustration over the 2011 lockout by failing to reach an agreement between team owners and players.
But other emails sent between 2011 and 2018, when he was a sports analyst at ESPN, show that
his derogatory language went much further
.
The Times reported, for its part, that Gruden used various anti-gay slurs against Goodell and criticized him for pressuring the Rams to sign Michael Sam,
the first openly gay player signed in the NFL
.
Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out in June and is the first gay player to appear in an NFL game.
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According to the newspaper's revelations, Gruden also condemned the commissioner and the NFL for trying to reduce concussions and said Eric Reid, now a free agent, should have been fired for his attitude during the national anthem.
The newspaper further claimed that Gruden mocked a 2017 article about the players asking Goodell for support in their efforts to
promote racial equality and criminal justice reform
.
The emails between Gruden, Allen and other men included
photos of bikini-clad women
, including one of two cheerleaders for the Washington team.
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In 2012, then-President Barack Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden, now in the White House, also came under fire.
Gruden agreed in 2018 to leave ESPN and return to the benches with a 10-year contract.
In his first stint with the Raiders between 1998 and 2001, he revived the team.
Then he beat him in the Super Bowl in front of the Tampa Bay.
Gruden is 117-112 in his career, but has not won a playoff game since the Super Bowl victory.
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