Its been a few weeks since former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden stepped down, however, he continues to be a hot topic. Most recently, team radio announcer Brent Musburger shared his opinion on the matter.
Gruden’s resignation began a short-lived downward spiral for the Raiders. Following the now-disgraced coach’s exit, Henry Ruggs III was involved in a terrible tragedy where an innocent life was lost. On top of this, the team began losing, which put their 2021 season in jeopardy. Nevertheless, was there more to Gruden’s departure than what’s being put out there? Many people defended the coach. Some felt the leaked e-mails, which led to his downfall, shouldn’t have caused him to lose his job. Others felt that the content of the e-mails warranted dismissal. Much of what was said has been labeled as bigoted, racist, and homophobic. Be that as it may, one man believes the recent occurrences were part of a bigger conspiracy, akin to a “mafia hit.”
A man not exactly near and dear to Raider Nation, Musburger recently spoke with media personality J.T. The Brick. The biggest thing that came away from that appearance was Musburger’s comments regarding Gruden’s resignation.
Musburger’s comments…
“That was one of the best hit jobs that I’ve ever been around. They didn’t go to their media goombahs. They didn’t leak this to Adam Schefter or one of those guys that breaks stories, they first went to The Wall Street Journal. And when Gruden was still coaching after that, then they dumped the rest of it on The New York Times. That was a professional hit job.” -Musburger on the leaked e-mails that led to Gruden’s resignation
As far as Musburger’s theory goes, who exactly could’ve been responsible for the leaked e-mails? As with any conspiracy, you look at who had the most to gain from a particular outcome. The Raiders certainly didn’t benefit from any of this.
Whether Gruden’s comments were bigoted or not can’t really be debated. However, the circumstances in which they came to light are fishy at best. Let’s not forget, it was the Washington Football Team that was originally the center of an investigation, not Gruden himself. The entire situation is muddy at best. In fact, the former Raiders coach is currently suing the NFL over the release of those e-mails.
At the end of the day, Gruden’s gone, and more than likely, he won’t be returning to the NFL any time soon. Perhaps we will get a tell-all book one day, and while Gruden’s alive, his coaching career is certainly sleeping with the fishes now.
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*Top Photo: Associated Press/Rick Scuteri