Sports TV News
Viewers, Media Call Out ESPN’s Jon Gruden Coverage
“Fellow media members couldn’t help but notice that ESPN was leaving out the key detail that when Gruden sent many of those emails, he was employed by the network and put front and center in its NFL coverage.”
ESPN devoted a lot of time to the racist, homophobic and misogynist language in emails from Jon Gruden uncovered during an investigation of the Washington Football team. Any sports network would and should. They led directly to Gruden’s resignation as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The situation is a bit more complicated for ESPN though. The first email from Gruden that became public was sent in 2011 when he was an employee of ESPN.
Adam Schefter reported that Jon Gruden would resign as coach of the Raiders after another series of emails were released on Monday. In those emails, Gruden used homophobic slurs repeatedly and made misogynistic comments about female referees in the league. Naturally, this development was a point of discussion during the pregame and halftime coverage of the Monday Night Football game between the Colts and Ravens.
Fellow media members couldn’t help but notice that ESPN was leaving out the key detail that when Gruden sent many of those emails, he was employed by the network and put front and center in its NFL coverage.
Fellow former ESPN employees noted the irony as well.
Jason Whitlock took it a step further. The host of Fearless on The Blaze digital network said that ESPN’s discussion of the initial email on Sunday during Sunday NFL Countdown was “one of the most dishonest and unsophisticated TV discussions I’ve ever seen.” He went on to say that Randy Moss, Sam Ponder, and Teddy Bruschi should win Academy Awards for what he insinuated was phony outrage.
“Are we, black men, are we so fragile that Gruden’s opinion on Smith’s enormous lips can reduce us to tears?” Whitlock asked, referencing Moss’s emotional plea to the NFL to show that the league really does stand up against racism. “I’m just not that fragile. The opinion of white men just isn’t that important to me. Jon Gruden’s email does not impact my life. I’m not ashamed of my big lips.”
Randy Moss replied to the video in a since-deleted Tweet, seemingly threatening Whitlock.
At the time of publishing, ESPN had not issued an official statement about Gruden or any of the criticism.
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Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at bondurantmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
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Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at bondurantmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.
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Jordan Bondurant is a features reporter for Barrett Sports Media. He’s a multimedia journalist and communicator who works at the Virginia State Corporation Commission in Richmond. Jordan also contributes occasional coverage of the Washington Capitals for the blog NoVa Caps. His prior media experiences include working for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Danville Register & Bee, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, WRIC-TV 8News and Audacy Richmond. He can be reached by email at bondurantmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @J__Bondurant.