Emotional Jon Gruden says he’s a ‘good person,’ wants to coach again

An emotional Jon Gruden told a gathering at the Little Rock (Arkansas) Touchdown Club that he hopes to coach football again.

The former Raiders coach appeared to fight back tears Tuesday as he discussed the email scandal that led to his resignation last season.

“I’m ashamed by what has come about in these emails, and I’ll make no excuses for it. It’s shameful,” Gruden said in one of his first appearances since his resignation.

The 59-year-old has sued the NFL, alleging it had a role in leaking the emails that contained racist and misogynistic language. That would seem to be a roadblock for his return to the sidelines in the league.

But he appears to be starting the process of repairing his image, perhaps in hopes of coaching at some other level.

“I am a good person,” said Gruden, who did not return a message from the Review-Journal seeking additional comment. “I believe that. I go to church. I’ve been married for 31 years and have three great boys. I still love football. I’ve made some mistakes, but I don’t think anybody in here hasn’t. I just ask for forgiveness and hopefully I get another shot.”

Gruden served as an analyst at ESPN for nearly a decade between coaching stints with the Buccaneers and Raiders. He took a shot at the network.

“I get choked up because there’s a lot of misunderstanding out there right now,” he said. “What you read, what you hear, what you watch on TV. I worked at ESPN for nine years, and I worked hard at that job. I don’t even want to watch the channel anymore because I don’t believe everything is true. I know a lot of it is just trying to get people to watch. But I think we have to get back to reality, and that’s why I look forward to (college football) Saturdays, because you’re going to get what you deserve when the whistle blows.”

Video of the comments was posted to social media by a reporter from KATV in Little Rock.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter.