Jon Gruden’s NFL return with the Raiders didn’t lead to much winning, but he recently got one in court against the league.
The Supreme Court of Nevada agreed to rehear Gruden’s case against the league and commissioner Roger Goodell. The former coach and commentator sued both parties alleging they interfered with his employment when he resigned as coach. The news was first reported by ProFootballTalk.
Gruden resigned as head Raiders coach in October 2021 in light of an investigation that revealed he used racist, misogynistic, and homophobic slurs in emails to then-Washington GM Bruce Allen over a seven-year period while he worked as a commentator for ESPN. Some of Gruden’s language in his emails were directed toward Goodell.
Gruden filed the lawsuit in November 2021 shortly after resigning and is seeking monetary damages. In it, he alleged the NFL forced him to resign by leaking the emails —reported by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times—which destroyed his career and some of his endorsements.
In May, Gruden lost a bid for the Supreme Court of Nevada to reconsider its ruling that allowed the NFL to move the case to private arbitration. This week’s ruling means Gruden’s case will be reheard by a panel of seven judges instead of the three that ruled 2-to-1 in favor of the league.
Since leaving the Raiders, Gruden has served as a consultant for the Saints and the Milano Seamen, a European football team, in addition to increasing his social media presence.
Gruden launched a YouTube show (164,000 followers) in September called “Gruden Loves Football” and a TikTok account with the same name (around 71,000 followers) in which he discusses recent games in what some viewers could describe as over the top. One segment, for instance, explains what “has me feeling nicey.”
