NFL agitator Jon Gruden has taken a job with one of the NFL’s biggest agitators in all of media.
Gruden has signed a multi-year deal with Barstool Sports.
The Super Bowl XXXVII-winning coach of the Buccaneers was traded to Tampa by the Raiders before the 2002 season. He joined ESPN after being fired by the Bucs in early 2009.
Gruden returned to the Raiders in 2018. In 2021, he was essentially forced to resign by the selective leaking of supposedly confidential emails harvested in the Washington investigation.
Yes, the outcome was unavoidable given the contents of the emails. No, that doesn’t make the seemingly deliberate effort to take him out during a season right.
A lawsuit against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell was quickly filed. More than three years later, it remains stuck on the question of whether the litigation should unfold in open court or in the NFL’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration.
Recently, Gruden secured a rehearing of the matter before the full Nevada Supreme Court. If he prevails on the issue, the NFL undoubtedly will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, further delaying the case.
Barstool occupies a separate spot on the NFL’s unofficial shit list. Founder Dave Portnoy and others conducted a sit-in at the lobby of the league office after Tom Brady was suspended for #DeflateGate. The NFL has since tried (at times successfully) to keep Barstool Sports personalities out of NFL events.
Earlier this year, Gruden launched a YouTube channel. It has done well. He’s entertaining and informative.
Just like his lawsuit will be, if (as we hope) it ends up playing out in court.