Jon Gruden Apologizes for Controversial Email

Raiders head coach Jon Gruden is catching some heat for an email he sent back in 2011 about NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.  He called Smith "Dumboriss Smith" and said he had "lips the size of Michelin tires."

Many have called the comments about Smith racist.  Without context the comments certainly have racial undertones at the very least.

Gruden issued an apology and provided some context to his comments.  According to Gruden, he made the comments in reference to the threat of a lockout.

Gruden said he calls liars rubber lips and felt like Smith wasn't telling the truth about the potential lockout.

Jon Gruden discussed the article with his players this morning. Here are his comments to me on the offensive email: pic.twitter.com/7gkNd5Rzzs

— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) October 8, 2021

I know context isn't going to matter to some people, but it should.  So should the fact that Gruden doesn't have a track record of doing or saying racist things.

Real racists aren't great at hiding it.  Gruden has worked in the NFL for decades with a pretty good reputation.  That said, he could have certainly used a better choice of words.

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