A scandal that is several years old is about to become a major headache for the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. And Jon Gruden is relishing in the opportunity.
Gruden scored a major legal victory in his ongoing saga with the NFL over the leaked e-mails that saw him fired from his second tenure as head coach of the Raiders. Those e-mails saw Gruden use offensive language and saw him become an exile in the pro football world.
But in the last year, Gruden has had a cultural renaissance as he parlayed a successful YouTube channel into a gig with Barstool Sports. After his name came and went as an outside candidate to potentially return to the NFL sidelines, he has been publicly politicking for a chance at a major college football job, saying he would “die to coach in the SEC.”
But that quest to return to coaching is not stopping his ongoing dispute with his former place of employment.
The Nevada court of appeals ruled that Gruden could not be held under NFL arbitration given his status as a former employee. Additionally, Goodell (as the subject of the lawsuit) could not be possibly expected to issue a fair ruling in any arbitration case.
In his first comments to ESPN about the ruling, Jon Gruden said he is looking forward to the case moving forward.
“I’m looking forward to having the truth come out and I want to make sure what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else,” he said in a statement provided to ESPN.
Gruden said he blames the NFL for leaking the emails, which led the league to pressure the Raiders to force him out when the team was 3-1.
“The league’s actions disrupted the whole season,” Gruden said. “We were leading the division at the time, and they completely blindsided me and the team.”
He added, “What happened wasn’t right and I’m glad the court didn’t let the NFL cover it up.”
The prospect of a trial is a scary one for Roger Goodell and the NFL given the various layers of testimony and discovery that it could involve. The question of whether Jon Gruden would accept a settlement or want to play this out to the bitter end remains to be seen. The NFL still has an appeal process they can go through, including an attempt to take it all the way to the Supreme Court if so desired.