Jon Gruden is no long the Las Vegas Raiders head coach but that doesn’t mean the team has completely forgotten about him. The coach was forced to resign after a slew of offensive emails containing racist, homophobic and misogynist language were leaked from the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football Team. Most of the Raiders players who have spoken out have condemned Gruden’s words but shown support to the coach.
Quarterback Derek Carr has been Gruden’s biggest supporter. After the coach resigned, Carr made his stance on the matter clear.
“It’s hard because I love the man so much,” Carr said. “I have family members that have done things … I think more than anything coach needs people to love him … but at the same time what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong.”
Carr believes what Gruden did was wrong but doesn’t believe that holding grudges helps anybody. Prior to the Raiders’ Sunday clash with the Philadelphia Eagles, Carr sat down with Charles Woodson and spoke about the whole situation. He expressed that he hopes people eventually forgive Gruden.
The FOX NFL Sunday crew, that included Woodson, had a chance to discuss. Notably, Michael Strahan expressed that it would be difficult for Gruden to continue to be a “leader of men” with people knowing the words he’s used in the past.
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Fans Don’t Necessarily Agree With Carr
While Carr is preaching a message of forgiveness, many aren’t so quick to let Gruden off the hook. The emails are still fresh in everybody’s minds and not everybody agreed with the quarterback’s messaging.
There were many more fans that spit out vitriol in NSFW ways. Carr had a close relationship with Gruden for years and it’s clear that he still has love for the coach. It’s going to take a lot for Gruden to get back in anybody’s good graces. His NFL career is likely over. He did recently say “the truth will come out,” which was interesting but cryptic. It’s possible that Gruden was the first of many to go down due to this Washington Football team investigation.
Darren Waller Also Expressed He Wanted Grace for Gruden
Interestingly enough, Carr is not the first Raiders to express that he’d like Gruden to be forgiven. Shortly after the coach resigned, star tight end Darren Waller had a similar sentiment to that of Carr.
“I want to offer somebody grace and allow them to learn from what they may have done and that’s what I’m trying to do right now for coach,” Waller said
As noted earlier, the Raiders players have been supportive of Gruden. We saw cornerback Trayvon Mullen say “got you JG” on Instagram after the resignation. Running back Josh Jacobs said the coach “never rubbed me a certain type of way” during their three years together. It’s a long road for Gruden as not everybody will be as quick to forgive him as some of his former players are.
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