Jon Gruden eager to discover 'truth' in NFL emails lawsuit - ESPN

Jon Gruden said Tuesday that he is eager to discover the truth in a Nevada courtroom about whether commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL leaked emails to the media before Gruden was forced to resign as Raiders head coach in 2021.

«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.»

Gruden's comments came a day after the Nevada Supreme Court sided with him in his lawsuit alleging the NFL leaked damaging emails to the media before he was forced to resign in October 2021.

In a 5-2 ruling, the justices did not determine whether the league had leaked Gruden's racist, sexist and anti-gay emails to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times at the time. But they found the league's decision to force Gruden's complaint into closed-door arbitration proceedings overseen by Goodell — the target of Gruden's civil lawsuit — was «unconscionable.»

An NFL spokesperson said Tuesday that the league would petition the Nevada Supreme Court for a rehearing. If that fails, the most likely next venue will be an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Neither Gruden, nor his lawyer, Adam Hosmer-Henner, would say whether they were inclined to settle the case with the NFL.

Gruden declined to address his coaching future Tuesday. He said last week that he