Gruden pleaded with reporter not to run damaging story
In the hours leading up to The Wall Street Journal publishing an explosive story that would ultimately lead to the end of his Raiders coaching career, Jon Gruden pleaded with a WSJ reporter not to run the story.
According to a story published by ESPN on Wednesday morning that recounts the details of Gruden’s final days with the Raiders — including the uncovering of a slew of disparaging emails Gruden sent when he worked as a color analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” — Gruden essentially fought for his survival during a phone conversation with the WSJ’s Andrew Beaton.
At the time, Beaton was preparing to publish a story detailing an email Gruden had sent 10 years earlier to his friend and then-Washington Commanders president Bruce Allen. In it, Gruden used racial language while referencing then-NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.
“Don’t go with this story,” Gruden told Beaton. “You are going to destroy people’s lives.”
In ESPN’s story on Wednesday, Beaton replied to Gruden: “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
The story also recounts the position the Raiders were put in during a hectic weekend in which they were first made aware of the Gruden emails, and then felt pressured by the NFL, and in particular NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who repeatedly told Raiders owner Mark Davis during a conference call that “you have to do something.”
Davis consistently raised questions about the timing of the whole ordeal, especially after learning the NFL was aware of the emails for months. Davis found it suspicious that, in the middle of what was shaping up as a promising season for the Raiders, actions that occurred long before Gruden became the coach of the Raiders were being exposed in a way that could sabotage their season.
“It felt like a setup,” Davis told an associate, according to ESPN.
Attempts by the Review-Journal to reach Gruden and Davis for comment were unsuccessful.
Beaton’s warning to Gruden would ultimately ring true.
Three days after the WSJ published its story, The New York Times published a story in which the details of a slew of Gruden’s past emails were recounted, many of which included offensive language covering a wide range of subjects.
In one email, Gruden described Goodell as “clueless” and “anti-football” and described him in anti-gay and misogynistic terms.
A second wave of emails pushed Davis to ask for Gruden’s resignation.
Gruden has since filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Goodell in which he accuses Goodell of “directly leaking” his emails in an attempt to get him fired and permanently tarnish his reputation.
The NFL has denied the accusations.
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.
