‘FIGHT IS NOT OVER’

NFLPA Chief on Gruden’s Racist Email About Him: Football Must Be Better

DeMaurice Smith says the racist comment Gruden made about him in 2011 demonstrates the “pervasive belief by some that people who look like me can be treated as less.”

The NFL players union chief who was the subject of a racist remark made by now former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden has issued a classy response to the revelations that derailed Gruden’s career. On Sunday, a bombshell Wall Street Journal story exposed a racist comment that Gruden made in a 2011 email about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith. That was followed up by a string of other stories about Gruben’s use of misogynistic and homophobic language, and the Raiders coach announced his resignation Monday night. Smith has responded with a Twitter thread, writing: “The email from Jon Gruden—and some of the reaction to it—confirms that the fight against racism, racist tropes and intolerance is not over,” Smith tweeted. “This is not about an email as much as it is about a pervasive belief by some that people who look like me can be treated as less.” He added that “football itself has to be better,” and confirmed that Gruden had reached out to him since the remark was made public. Smith said they would “connect soon.”