Jon Gruden’s Comments to Richard Sherman Are “Blatant Falsification”

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Cris Collinsworth tried. He tried to stop Raiders coach Jon Gruden from committing a tampering violation. Gruden didn’t seem to care.

Collinsworth, who hosts a podcast featuring 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman, had Gruden as a guest. Collinsworth mentioned the fact that former Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley arrived in Las Vegas as defensive coordinator, before pointing out the elephant entering the room when a player under contract with a team s’ address directly to a coach of another team.

“I know there are forgery rules out there and I don’t want to bring up anything that might create a problem for you, because I know you’ve been fined a few shekels over time. for years, ”Collinsworth said.

“Yes,” Gruden said. “I was fined, I was punished very, very harshly. Richard Sherman, if you’re a free agent, rumored that you are, we’re looking for an alpha presence in our high school. Someone who could play this Hawk 3-press technique with the reading step. If you’re available and interested, maybe you and I can get together at some point.

Sherman said in response, “There is a conversation to be had, for sure. I am free and available these days. “

As one CEO, unsolicited and unsolicited, said in response to Gruden’s comments: “This is blatant forgery.

And it’s. Here is the relevant wording, starting on page 5 of the NFL Anti-Tampering Policy: “Any statement of public or private interest, qualified or not, in a player of another club to the agent or representative of that player, or to a member of the news media, is a violation of this anti-tampering policy. (Example of forbidden comment: “He’s an excellent player, and we would love to have him if he were available, but another club has his rights.”) “

Gruden went further than that. His comments assume Sherman is already a free agent. He is not. He remains under contract with the 49ers until March 17, when the league’s new year begins and becomes a free agent.

Via email, the NFL declined to comment on the situation.

It remains to be seen whether the league is actually doing something about this. Sometimes no, sometimes yes. In this case, how can they not? It’s as open and obvious as it gets; although the 49ers do not currently plan to keep Sherman, they have his rights until March 17. He is not free. He is not available.

And Gruden, who has been in and around the NFL for decades, should know it. If he doesn’t, there’s a good chance he will soon.