On Monday, principal owner Mark Davis watched as new head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Spytek were introduced to the Las Vegas Raiders.
After the press conference for the two was over, Davis was part of the ensuing media scrum to answer questions.
While he was certainly happy with the decisions made so far during the offseason, he also took the opportunity to air out some grievances.
When the topic of minority owner Tom Brady came up, Davis mentioned that the input of the future Hall of Famer was something missing from the organization since the firing of former head coach Jon Gruden.
“Bringing in Tom Brady was bringing in somebody on the football side that I had been lacking having here in the organization,” Davis said to reporters.
“Back in I guess it was ’18 with Jon Gruden, he was somebody that I brought in and really expected to be that person on the football side that would bring stability to the organization. He had a 10-year contract and all that, and his head was chopped off. And we were put in a really bad position as an organization.”
Gruden resigned from his position as Raiders head coach in 2021, when a series of controversial emails he sent out during his time as an analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” were leaked.
During a seven-year period, Gruden sent emails to former Washington Football Team general manager Bruce Allen and others that contained racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language. He also made disparaging remarks about then-NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.
Gruden has been out of football since his resignation, and is currently embroiled in a lawsuit against the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly forcing him out of his position with the Raiders.
In fairness, Gruden had struggled to replicate the same success as his first stint with the team to that point, going 22-31. That said, the Raiders were hoping Gruden could instill some level of continuity within the organization, only to essentially be cut down at the knees.
Why Davis chose this time to address the issue is uncertain, but it is clear that the controversy serves as a black cloud over the organization to this day.
