Jerry Jones says comments such as Jon Gruden's 'not prevalent' in NFL

In a recent interview with Bob Costas, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said sentiments such as those expressed by former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden are not common within the league. Gruden resigned as the Raiders coach in October after emails he sent containing racist, sexist and homophobic remarks were uncovered by league officials.

“At the risk of pointing to Jon — and I don’t want to do that (because) he’s a friend of mine — but I will tell you there is not that type of issue prevalent in the NFL,” Jones said. “I can speak to that directly. I can also tell you that I’ve got quite a background in amateur sports as well. One thing that happens in the huddle is you look around that huddle (and see) every race. Every manner of contribution to that huddle is there. Everybody’s blood is red. This game, if it’s anything, it’s about really milling that type of issue. That’s one of the reasons I’m proud to be a part of the game.”

The statement from Jones comes as reports surfaced Friday that Gruden was suing the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell over the incident.

“Through a malicious and orchestrated campaign, the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell sought to destroy the career and reputation of Jon Gruden, the former head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders,” the lawsuit alleges, via David Ferrara of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The complaint contends that Gruden was “forced to resign” as a result of the persistent leak of supposedly secret emails from the Washington Football Team investigation.

“When their initial salvo did not result in Gruden’s firing or resignation, Defendants ratcheted up the pressure by intimating that further documents would become public if Gruden was not fired,” the lawsuit filed Thursday on Gruden’s behalf alleges. “They followed through with this threat by leaking another batch of documents to the New York Times for an October 11, 2021 article. On October 7, 2021, Jon Gruden was the head coach of the Raiders on a 10-year, $100-million contract. By October 11, 2021, he had been forced to resign.”

A story released by the Wall Street Journal describing an email sent by Gruden back in July of 2011 to have contained the use of a racist trope directed at NFL players of association executive director DeMaurice Smith sparked an investigation and ensuing fallout.

“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires,” Gruden wrote in the email that has since launched an investigation, per Andrew Beaton of The Wall Street Journal.

Gruden sent the email during a lockout by the players over the 2011 summer. He sent the email after the NFLPA chose not to vote on a collective bargaining agreement ratified by the league’s owners. At the time of the email, Gruden was a color commentator for ESPN. During that time he was one of the analysts for the network’s Monday Night Football telecast.

Later on, additional emails containing equally offensive remarks were uncovered. Those emails were sent by Gruden to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Team, and others while he was working as a color analyst on Monday Night Football.

In his emails, the report details that he used homophobic language and slurs to describe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, as well as saying Goodell pressured former Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher to draft “queers.” The New York Times report that Goodell’s comments about Fisher refer to the drafting of Michael Sam, an openly gay player drafted in 2014.

The fallout from all this was Gruden losing his job, and while that seemed to be the end of it at the time, it’s clear the coaching isn’t willing to go out quietly.

On3’s Tim Verghese contributed to this report.