Jon Gruden Breaks His Silence: 'The Truth Will Come Out'
It's been 12 days since Jon Gruden resigned as Raiders head coach, stemming from emails of his over the past decade that contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic language.
Gruden released a statement announcing his resignation but has otherwise remained silent, fading to the background as his emails have become national discussion. That is, until now, as he recently spoke to a producer of HBO's Real Sports Podcast. HBO correspondent Andrea Kremer revealed the conversation Gruden had with a producer on the latest episode of the podcast.
“Maggie Burbank, who produced the story that we just did on Mark Davis, she actually called Gruden and he picked up the phone, much to, I think, her surprise,” Kremer said. “And he’s still in Las Vegas. ... He says he’s letting the dust settle. He said, ‘People who know me know what I stand for for 58 years. I have a resume of 58 years.’ He said, ‘The truth will come out.’ It’s certainly cryptic.”
Gruden's emails popped up as a result of The New York Times launching an investigation into the Washington Football Team for sexual harassment claims. Of the 650,000 emails reviewed, only Gruden's were revealed by The Times. A league source then told the Associated Press on Oct. 15 that nobody else in the NFL was cited with email violations.
That claim from the league has drawn skepticism, even from Congress. Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, two representatives from Congress sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell requesting for documents regarding Washington's hostile workplace culture to be revealed.
“The Committee is seeking to fully understand this workplace conduct and the league’s response, which will help inform legislative efforts to address toxic work environments and workplace investigation processes; strengthen protections for women in the workplace; and address the use of nondisclosure agreements to prevent the disclosure of unlawful employment practices, including sexual harassment,” the letter reads.
While the saga has gained national spotlight, one man continues to sit back and skate free: Washington owner Dan Snyder. The investigation was initially launched towards him but shifted away once Gruden's emails became public. Gruden's words, "the truth will come out" signal that more is to come, perhaps with Snyder's inappropriate handling of his franchise coming to light.