By now, if you’re an NFL fan, you know what happened with Jon Gruden as of last night. He and the Las Vegas Raiders have parted ways because of a series of misogynistic and homophobic e-mails he had written between 2010 and 2018, along with using derogatory language to address commissioner Roger Goddell.
He was already under investigation for a 2011 e-mail in which he used racist imagery to describe NFL Players’ Association direction DeMaurice Smith. Of course, that wouldn’t be enough, but I digress.
Anyway, let me get right to it. As always when it comes to events like this, there are always those *special* individuals who have to cry about this happening and make excuses for Gruden. Never mind that these are the same people who claimed that they “would never watch football again because of the kneeling,” which means they would not know about this happening, but I guess that because they may be stupid, they think everyone else is also.
While there are a number of excuses, I’ll destroy three of them right here.
“WE’VE ALL DONE STUPID THINGS WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER!”
When people say this, they are typically referring to their teen years. College. Early twenties.
In 2010, Jon Gruden was not some knucklehead teenager or college student. He was 47 years old. I’m five years younger than that now and I’ve never sent e-mails of this nature. Then again, I got bigger fish to fry with making sure police don’t murder me because of my race, an absent father, “Black on Black crime” or all that other nonsense.
“WE’VE ALL DONE STUPID THINGS BEFORE!”
No, that isn’t a copy-paste typo. I needed to write it again. If you’re a parent, you have children who have done *stupid* things before. Now if they were to respond with “<insert name here> did it too!” any good parent would shut that down right away. And this is with a 7, 8, 9-year-old child.
So we expect more from 7, 8 and 9-year-olds than a 47-year-old man in the public eye, national broadcaster and head coach of a National Football League team? Good to know.
“IF YOU PULL UP ALL OUR E-MAILS, WE WOULD ALL HAVE INCRIMINATING STUFF IN THERE!”
Speak for yourself, slick. Again, I don’t have anything in ANY of my e-mails of this nature.
Also, again…how many of us have been in the public eye for DECADES and were not smart enough to not leave a paper trail? The standard is a little higher for him than it is for us. And even if every one of us did have all that, that has nothing to do with what a grown man decides to do, especially working for not only a public organization such as ESPN, but also with the Las Vegas Raiders. He’s not speaking for only himself. That’s another difference many fail to realize, whether you want to or not. He represents more than just himself. What you might find in the e-mails of normal, non-public citizens like us would not be enough to affect a multi-billion dollar organization’s bottom line.
“IT HAPPENED A LONG TIME AGO!”
So does a lot of what happens on Black men’s police records after police murder them. Yet, somehow, we don’t receive that same grace.
Along with that, we’re not talking about the 1980s (even though his behavior was likely exhibited back then also, if not worse) and that being the only time it happened. We’re talking less than 15 years ago, again, when he was in late 40s, with the latest discovered instance being three years ago, when Gruden was 55. Spare me.
I could probably keep going, but I’ve made my point. Will this change everything? Probably not. But these are just a few of the weak, garbage arguments that are out there. After a while, I may come back and do this again once I see more.
Either way, even after all this, he was not brought into an office and told that he “needs to go.” He was given the opportunity to resign. So it likely wasn’t emphasized as to what would not be tolerated. The discussion was likely to the degree of “asking” him to resign because “it’s the right thing to do” along with playing the “CYA” game.
Sounds about white.
People's Court 