Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had little to say about the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football Team that revealed past racist, sexist and homophobic emails from Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden, leading to his resignation on Monday.
“I don’t have anything I would want to express one way or the other,” Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 The Fan Tuesday when asked if Gruden should have lost his job. “From the standpoint of contribution, I know we all are accountable to even a, if you will, fleeting or minor part of our actions. We all are accountable to those. That’s about all I want to comment on that.”
Gruden resigned Monday night in the wake of a report revealing racist, misogynistic and homophobic language in emails sent from 2011 through 2018 to former Washington Football Team executive Bruce Allen.
The NFL obtained the emails as part of an investigation into the workplace culture of the Washington Football Team.
A person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press that Gruden stepped down after The New York Times reported that he frequently used misogynistic and homophobic language directed at Commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the NFL.
“I know these people. I know everybody you’ve been reading about,” Jones said. “They’re outstanding proponents of our game, they have represented this game in many cases beautifully. Certainly we all continue to recognize what a spotlight you’re in and the way we should express ourselves.”
“We’re talking about people here, and even the ones that some of the comments are directed about: those have been outstanding people in the NFL.”
Jones said technology has changed from “daylight and dark” over the last 30 years, resulting in increased accountability of communications.
He said this is not a wake up call for the NFL, it’s real life.
“The technology alone but certainly because of the expectation, it’s dramatically changed but they were changing from what they were 30 years ago or 30 years earlier,” Jones said. “We just have to keep your eyes open. The incidents that get portrayed aren’t necessarily a reflection of the individual or a reflection of his life but they certainly are impactful and you are accountable for them. That’s about all I can say. It’s almost like looking at an instance and trying to describe it rather than have an opinion on it.
“The opinion is I wish we could have all things we’re discussing be complete positives. But that’s not life.”
