Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden. Ben Margot/AP
According to a WSJ Report, the NFL is investigating Jon Gruden over a racist email he sent back in 2011.
According to the Raiders coach, DeMaurice Smith was "a man with lips as big as Michelin tires."
Gruden called Smith "Dumboriss" and he is also a Black man.
Jon Gruden is in hot water.
According to Andrew Beaton, The Wall Street Journal reports that the NFL is investigating the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach after a racist email he wrote in 2011 surfaced.
Gruden, then an ESPN broadcaster, played into a racist stereotype of Black people and criticised DeMaurice Smith (an African man) in the email. This was a decade old.
DeMaurice Smith. Chris Carlson/AP Images
He wrote that "Dumboriss Smith's lips are the size of michellin tire" in an email to Bruce Allen, then the president of the Washington Football Team.
Gruden said that he was sorry for the comment to The Wall Street Journal and also clarified that he didn't mean to rely on a race-based trope. Beaton was informed by Gruden that he was unhappy with Smith's handling at the time of the lockout and that he was trying characterize the NFLPA chief in a negative light.
Gruden claimed that he was using "rubber lips" as a way to describe lying, but he took it too far.
Gruden. Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Gruden stated that "I was upset", to The Wall Street Journal. Gruden said that he used a terrible way to explain it.
"I don’t believe he’s stupid. He said that he didn't believe he was a liar. "I don’t have a single racial bone on my body, and that I’ve proved for 58 years."
Smith stated that Gruden's comment was not the first racist comment he'd heard, and probably won't be the last.
Smith stated that this is a job with thick skin for someone with darker skin. This has been the case for many people like me who work in corporate America. "People sometimes say things behind your back which are racist, just as you hear people speak and write about yourself using thinly coded and racist terminology."
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Smith (right), shakes hands to Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner. Michael Loccisano/Getty
He said, "Racism such as this is due to the fact that they are at the same table with me and don't believe someone who looks like them belongs." "I am sorry that my family must see this, but I would prefer they knew. It will not define me."
A source said that the NFL is reviewing Gruden's situation with the Raiders to determine if it should discipline him. The NFL released a statement calling the contents of the email "appalling," abhorrent and completely contrary to its values.
"We condemn the statement, and we regret any harm it may cause to Mr. Smith or anyone else."
Insider has the original article.
