Jon Gruden’s Agent Says Leak of Ex-Raiders HC’s Racist, Sexist Emails Was ‘Hit Job’

Jon Gruden (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Bob LaMonte, the agent of former Las
Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden, said Saturday the leak of his client’s
racist, misogynistic and anti-gay emails was a “hit job.”

LaMonte said the 58-year-old Gruden was in a “state of shock” after his resignation from the Raiders after information about the emails was released, per Ira Kaufman of JoeBucsFan.

“And it was 10 years ago. And then
why Jon and why the Raiders? He wasn’t even in the league at the
time of those e-mails … that’s the tragedy of it,” LaMonte said. “You can say what you want, but if anyone really understands Jon,
they know he’s not a racist. That’s quite obvious. No one would ever
say that.”

Gruden resigned as the Raiders’ head
coach in October after the New York Times published multiple emails from Gruden that included derogatory remarks directed toward NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive
director DeMaurice Smith and defensive end Michael Sam, the league’s
first openly gay player.

The emails, which were sent between
2011 and 2018, were unearthed as part of the NFL’s investigation into the
Washington Commanders’ workplace culture because they were sent to Bruce Allen, who was a member of the team’s front office at the
time.

No other emails found in the investigation have been publicly released.

Gruden worked on ESPN’s Monday Night
Football broadcast team from 2009 until his return to coaching with
the Raiders in 2018. Prior to his broadcasting career, he was head coach of the Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won the Super Bowl XXXVII title at the end of the
2002 season.

Gruden filed a lawsuit against the NFL
and Goodell in November, alleging the leak of the emails was an
orchestrated attempt to “destroy [his] career and reputation.”

In May, a Nevada judge denied a motion
by the NFL to dismiss the case.

“This wasn’t good for anybody,” LaMonte told Kaufman. “That’s why he ended up suing the NFL and
Goodell—because everyone knows it was wrong. You have 650,000
e-mails and his six were picked out … and he wasn’t even in the
league. He prevailed in court and he will prevail again.”

Lamonte predicted a trial would be “devastating” to the league and said he expects Gruden will eventually return to the sideline.

“I really believe in my heart and
soul he will coach again,” LaMonte said. “I’d be very surprised
if he didn’t. My question is what did Jon really do? Most people
wouldn’t want their private emails from 10 days ago looked at.”

He added: “I can tell you right now that was a hit job.”

Gruden’s first head coaching job came
with the Raiders while the franchise was located in Oakland, a tenure
that lasted from 1998 through 2001. He’d spent the previous two
decades as an assistant at the college and pro levels.