Jon Gruden says emails 'shameful' but I'm 'good person,' hope to 'get another shot'

Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden, for the first time, publicly addressed the email controversy that cost him his job last October.

Gruden, who is currently involved in a lawsuit against the NFL claiming the league singled him out, spoke Tuesday at the Little Rock Touchdown Club in Arkansas.

Gruden, 59, said he was going to be «honest» with the gathering.

«I'm ashamed about what has come about in these emails, and I'll make no excuses for it,» he said. «It's shameful. But, I am a good person. I believe that. I go to church. I've been married for 31 years. I've got three great boys. I still love football. I've made some mistakes. But I don't think anybody in here hasn't. And I just ask for forgiveness and, hopefully, I get another shot.»

Gruden's emails, which contained racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language, first came to light in a Wall Street Journal article on Oct. 8. He was on the sidelines for the Raiders that weekend and the New York Times published an article on Oct. 11 that contained additional emails. Gruden, who had signed a 10-year contract worth a reported $100 million to leave ESPN's «Monday Night Football» booth and return to the Raiders in 2018, resigned that night.

The emails came to light in an NFL investigation into workplace conditions with the Washington franchise as Gruden was messaging with then-Washington executive Bruce Allen.

The NFL, the lawsuit contends, had been in possession of the emails since June of 2021.

«Ask the NFL,» Raiders owner Mark Davis told ESPN at the time. «They have all the answers.»

Gruden's lawsuit has claimed «tortious interference» by the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, that they selectively leaked his emails to force his removal.

Of the 650,000 emails