Gruden admits to vulgar criticism of Goodell in 2011 email
Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden admitted to chastising NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a 2011 email.
"I was in a bad frame of mind at the time and I called Roger Goodell a (expletive) in one of these emails, too," Gruden told ESPN's Chris Mortensen on Friday.
The email was among several others the NFL provided to the Raiders. In those materials, Gruden also criticized multiple team owners during the 2011 labor negotiations that resulted in a lockout.
"They were keeping players and coaches from doing what they love with a lockout. There also were a lot of things being reported publicly about the safety of the sport that I love," Gruden said. "I was on a mission with high school football during that time and there were a lot of parents who were scared about letting their kids play football. It just didn't sit well with me."
The emails were flagged as part of the league's offseason investigation of the Washington Football Team's workplace culture. Gruden was a broadcaster for Monday Night Football at the time and communicated with former Washington president Bruce Allen, whom he worked with on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2004 to 2008.
It was also discovered Gruden used a racist trope to describe NFL Players Association director DeMaurice Smith in a separate 2011 email.
The comment has been condemned by Smith and the league. The NFL is considering possible discipline for Gruden.