Jon Gruden coaching against the Bears. Sep 13, 2021; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden reacts against the Baltimore Ravens during the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

In a bit of incredibly predictable news, Jon Gruden has filed a lawsuit in Nevada against the NFL and league commissioner Roger Goodell.

Gruden resigned his position with the Las Vegas Raiders in the wake of emails that leaked as part of an investigation into the Washington Football Team, in which Gruden used racist, misogynistic, and homophobic language (including in reference to NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith.) At the time of the emails in question, Gruden was working for ESPN’s Monday Night Football booth.

Gruden’s attorney informed reporter Tom Pelissero of the legal maneuver:

The suit essentially focuses on the fact that in the wake of the Gruden leaks, the NFL promptly locked down the rest of the Bruce Allen emails, which Gruden’s camp points to as a targeted effort to punish him and protect everyone else involved.

The NFL responded as you’d expect, with a short statement saying they’ll contest everything:

It’s important to note that Gruden absolutely deserved to be forced out in Las Vegas. There’s no doubt about that. But the idea that with a league full of old white men there wouldn’t be anything else along the lines of what Gruden was punished for in those 650,000 emails is a pretty big stretch. It very much felt like the rest of the league’s power brokers realized the exposure they had after the Gruden story broke (and broke quickly; he was gone within days) and decided to cover everyone’s collective ass. (Though it didn’t come in time to prevent Adam Schefter’s “Mr. Editor” story from coming out, which is somehow not even the least embarrassing Schefter news in the last few months.)

On that front, Gruden might have a point, and if the courts agree enough to force the NFL to reopen the emails in question we might see the league settle pretty quickly to prevent the public from seeing the thing they didn’t want the public to see all along.

And hey, this all really sucks! Gruden’s words were abhorrent. The league fostering a culture where language like that gets tossed around at the executive level is gross. The NFL saying “Nothing to see here!” is insulting to everyone, and that they might end up paying someone like Gruden despite Gruden’s actions is distasteful at best, even by Friday news dump standards.

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.