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Hall of Fame catcher Tim Brown offered a strong defense to longtime friend Jon Gruden in a radio interview on Saturday, but admitted that the email leak scandal could prompt the owner of the Raiders, Mark Davis, to take strong action.
“It’s possible that (Gruden) will lose his job because of this if Mark Davis feels like it’s something that’s wrong,” Brown said in a radio interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“He loves Gruden, but he likes things to be right more than he likes Gruden.”
A Wall Street Journal article on Friday revealed that an email Gruden sent Washington football president Bruce Allen in 2011 was discovered during a corporate culture investigation. organisation.
In the email, Gruden used a racial trope to describe NFLPA chief DeMaurice Smith.
“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires,” Gruden wrote, misspelling the brand name.
The imagery of the labia majora has historically been used to promote anti-black and racist ideas. Gruden said on Friday that he often used the term “rubber lips” to describe people whom he said are often deceitful and that the wording of the email was an evolution of that term.
Brown, who played for Gruden from 1998-2001 and remains a close friend of the coach, supported Gruden’s claim.
“I’ve heard Jon use the term rubber lips before, which means this guy is double talking or doing anything,” Brown said. “It’s just a term he uses.”
The Urban Dictionary, a mine of slang expressions online, cites the phrase as meaning someone who “accidentally mutilates the pronunciation of a word due to lingual clumsiness.”
Gruden was working for ESPN at the time of the email and said he was frustrated with Smith’s leadership of the union.
“The rubber lips have become the Michelin man,” Gruden said on Friday, referring to the tire company’s famous mascot. “I went too far with this, and I apologize.”
Brown said in the interview that he had never had experience with Gruden where his friend introduced himself as a racist.
“Never, ever, did I get anything from him that made me think, ‘Hmm, that didn’t go well,'” Brown said.
“I think if you know Gruden, if you know something about him, or if you’ve been with him, especially since the time I’ve known him, then you would have understood that this guy is not straight. something wrong with him. There’s no way I ever would. The way I talk about Gruden, people think he’s my dad or something because I that kind of admiration for him.
But Brown also knows Davis and thinks his strong stance against intolerance could lead him to go after the coach in this case.
“If Mark thinks there is a problem here, Mark will make a move,” said Brown. “That’s how serious Mark is about this stuff. Mark is not going to play that racist thing. He will not allow that kind of thing to happen.
“If he feels like it’s wrong, and I’m sure there’s going to be some discipline… if there’s something to it, and Mark believes it, I think Mark will take it further.” than simply fining Gruden. It is possible that he will lose his job because of it if Mark Davis feels like it is something that is wrong.
Davis released a statement through the team on Friday and said he would have no further comment pending a review of information received from the league, which is investigating the matter.
“The content of an email regarding Jon Gruden’s DeMaurice Smith when he worked for ESPN 10 years ago is disturbing and not what the Raiders stand for,” Davis wrote. “We were first notified of the email late yesterday by a reporter and are reviewing it along with other material provided to us today by the NFL. We are discussing the matter with Coach Gruden and will have no further comments at this time. “
Contact Adam Hill at [email protected]. To follow @AdamHillLVRJ on Twitter. Contact Vincent Bonsignore at [email protected]. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.
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