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Jon Gruden resigns as head coach of the Raiders

Bears Raiders Football
Posted at 6:36 PM, Oct 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-10-12 17:13:41-04

Jon Gruden is no longer the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

In a statement, Gruden said, "I have resigned as Head Coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff and fans of Raider Nation. I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone."

Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders, said he accepted Gruden's resignation, which came hours after The New York Times published a report that said Gruden had made homophobic and misogynistic comments in the past.

The Raiders are the only team in the NFL to have an openly gay player. Carl Nassib came out prior to the start of the season.

Gruden had already apologized for using a racist trope in an email, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Players who commented about the Wall Street Journal article said they stood by their coach.

"All the guys, we all kind of talked about how we felt about it and how [Gruden] treats the players. He's a players' coach. So, everybody was kind of like ... just overanalyzing it. I don't think it's going to affect it, because our guys, we're led by each other," ESPN quoted Raiders running back Josh Jacobs.

Gruden was in his fourth year with the Raiders. He had a 10-year contract worth $100 million.

Rich Bisaccia will serve as interim head coach, according to the team's Twitter account.