We all know that stuff goes on behind the scenes in many organization big and small, but recently stories have been coming out about improper behavior in sports. I’m sure you all of seen it too, whether it be inappropriate sexual misconduct in the NHL or illegal practices with cheating in the MLB. However, what I want to focus on today is the inappropriate language that has been allowed to circulate in the NFL. In today’s case, we will be analyzing the leaked emails of former Raiders’ head coach, Jon Gruden that sparked a controversial flame in the NFL and uncovered deeper secrets into the league’s injustices.
Jon Gruden was an NFL coach for over 15 seasons, 4 of which were spent as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach. In the current 2021 season, he had led them to an initial 3-0 record, which began a promising look to the playoffs for the team. However, in October 2021 news publications showed several counts of Gruden’s emails to other staff members containing racist, anti-gay misogynistic language towards the commissioner of the NFL and other coworkers. These disturbing messages led to his eventual resignation, that honestly would have resulted in him being fired without his initiative. Many players spoke out regarding the situation, displaying their attitudes towards their coaches. Several people reflected that they personally experienced Gruden’s racist and homophobic attitudes on the fields and in his conversations with the team.
Before this all happened, there is some relevant backstory that makes this whole situation more relevant in the times. At the beginning of this season, the NFL proposed a league-wide initiative to end racism and promote social justice. The teams embraced this message by writing “end racism” in the field of their end zones and scribing different messages on their helmets, cleats, and other gear. However, it’s crazy to me that despite this seemingly league-wide acceptance and embracement of this message, internally the theme did not carry out to all people. As a head coach of an organization, you would think they would clean up their act and lead an example for the rest of the team.
The most disheartening message that came to many people from this story was how commonplace the players felt this situation to be. Many commented that they were not surprised this happens, which begs the question how much occurs behind the scenes. If they noticed he was acting in a way that they didn’t feel comfortable with, why didn’t any player or other staff member speak up? Couldn’t they see what he was doing wasn’t right? The Raiders’ organization is made up of several racial backgrounds and different sexual identities, so this quickly became very personal for many people. However, think about how you feel talking to your boss or person of power. Would you really want to contradict them if they are the one signing your paycheck, or in this case giving you playing time?
This is so reminiscent of an old philosopher’s idea of the master-slave dialect. Hegel, who coined this term hundreds of years ago, commented on how a conversation that has an imbalance of power is not the same discourse as those who are equals. Everyone needs to be a master in some situations in their own self, but this frequently comes at the expense of the “slave” that you are othering. Some people find it easy to belittle these “other” to advance their personal motives or fit their internal opinions. This situation gets even more complicated when it impacts such a large financial institution with many people’s paychecks and overall careers on the line. Although times have changed in many ways since the context of these 1800s words, I feel it is still seen in the heart of many individuals and power struggles in today’s society.
It goes back to the whole stereotype of standing up to a bully. Many times, building your own self-image as the master of your own self can easily fall into the trap of belittling others. This story represents how unjust it is that individuals in positions of power have a higher freedom of speech that occurs so long as they do not get caught. This promotes an overall discriminative culture when the leader of an organization is promoting such inappropriate attitudes and behaviors. It was shocking to me that with all the efforts the NFL is trying to do to end racism and promote equality, somehow the culture has remained untouched on the inside.
Okay, we can all agree that what Jon Gruden said wasn’t right. It’s never okay to use those terms talking to everyone, even if it is about your not-so-liked boss. However, Jon Gruden himself thinks that taking his prior words out of context to end his career was too far. Immediately when I saw the headline “Jon Gruden sues the NFL,” I laughed thinking there is no way he has any case. However, digging a little deeper led me to a legal rabbit hole that complicated my opinion on the situation. To quote ESPN’s article on the situation, “There is no explanation or justification for why Gruden’s emails were the only ones made public out of the 650,000 emails collected in the NFL’s investigation of the Washington Football Team or for why the emails were held for months before being released in the middle of the Raiders’ season.”
Ok, so if you found all these emails with inappropriate language, why isn’t the public aware of these cases? What else are they hiding? Trust me, I’m glad this man is receiving some repercussions for his actions. However, why is he taking all the blame when there may be even more going on? Why are these other individuals scraping free? Gruden alleges that the league was threating the Raiders’ organization that they would release many more documents if he was not fired. This begs the question: if you have these documents and know they show malpractice, why aren’t they publicized, and people held accountable? It begs the question in my mind, is it worse what Gruden said, or that similar documents are being used as blackmail?
Now that somebody spoke up, more players have been calling hotlines for their respective leagues. Also, it appears that there will be more investigative work done on other coaches and team officials whom they suspect have been showing improper activity. Other leagues, such as the NHL, have had stories come out about a lot of players that have been abused by people in power. Many of these NHL players, including Kyle Beach, starting by calling the anonymous NHL hotline to report abusive behaviors and have since then made their stories public. Although it is reassuring that voices can be heard, I find it crazy that there are so many more voices that are hiding under the surface. Hopefully, more voices can speak out against their “masters” and show that an imbalance of power is not enough to ruin the normal dialectic between people and cause injustice in sports, and overall society. It will be interesting to see how this impacts the future of sports and society today.
Sebastiano Layne