Raiders coach Jon Gruden said that he "called Roger Goodell a [expletive]" in one of the emails flagged by the NFL this week.
Jon Gruden used a vulgar description to refer to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in one of the emails shared by the league with Raiders executives last week, he confirmed to ESPN.
The Las Vegas coach's emails have been at the center of controversy over the last week after the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that he used a racist trope to describe NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith in a 2011 email. Gruden was a commentator for ESPN at the time he sent the message.
In the latest revelation, Gruden said the emails flagged by the NFL also included insults aimed at unnamed team owners who were part of the 2011 labor dispute that led to a lockout.
"I was in a bad frame of mind at the time [in 2011], and I called Roger Goodell a [expletive] in one of these emails too," Gruden told ESPN. "They were keeping players and coaches from doing what they love with a lockout.
"There also were a lot of things being reported publicly about the safety of the sport that I love. I was on a mission with high school football [in the Tampa area] during that time, and there were a lot of parents who were scared about letting their kids play football. It just didn't sit well with me."
The NFL is exploring disciplinary measures against Gruden, according to ESPN, although Gruden was not employed by the league or an NFL team at the time the emails were sent.
Gruden said that five to seven emails were flagged by the league in total, including a July 2011 email to then Washington general manager Bruce Allen in which Gruden wrote, "Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires."
Raiders owner Mark Davis said in a statement Friday that the team was "addressing the matter" with Gruden.
"The content of an email regarding DeMaurice Smith from Jon Gruden when he worked for ESPN 10 years ago is disturbing and not what the Raiders stand for," Davis said. "We were first made aware of the email late yesterday by a reporter and are reviewing it along with other materials provided to us today by the NFL."
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