Former Las Vegas Raider coach Jon Gruden is suing the NFL and its commissioner, Roger Goodell. Gruden resigned under pressure in October when tasteless emails he’d authored years ago were released as part of a probe into the supposedly problematic Washington Redskin culture.
According to USA TODAY’s Cydney Henderson, the paperwork filed by Gruden’s attorney alleged that the league used a “malicious and orchestrated campaign” to destroy Gruden’s career. Why were emails implicating Gruden the only ones made public out of 650,000 such messages obtained during the Redskin investigation?
Why indeed?
Raider broadcaster Brent Musberger told the Las Vegas Sports Network that whoever took out Gruden “was a paid assassin.”
So who was the assassin? And what was the motive?
While it’s of particular interest to Raider fans, it’s also of interest to others pulled in by tabloid headlines—as well as to those of us concerned about privacy in an information age.
Celebrities and public figures used to be accorded zones of privacy by the media and others. Babe Ruth’s language and lifestyle would get him banned from baseball today. Many if not most U.S. Presidents would not have survived character assassinations if they had to contend with our current cancel culture.
John F. Kennedy’s mortifying behavior and serious health problems were well-known to many in the 1960s media establishment. But JFK knew they had his back. No worries.
Which brings us to double standards.
Sports junkie Brett Kavanaugh is now a Supreme Court Justice. Long ago he was basketball captain at prestigious Georgetown Prep. During his confirmation hearings, “assassins” dug into every aspect of his life and seized upon some of his “adolescent” behavior at prep school that supposedly occurred decades ago when he was, well, an adolescent! In any event, Kavanaugh denied the uncorroborated allegations and was sworn in to serve on our highest court.
Contrast that with current Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. The Democrat governor of the Old Dominion—who last year limited the number of spectators at indoor and outdoor sports events to 25—earlier denied adolescent misbehavior of a racial nature in college. Then photos emerged of Northam in blackface with a someone dressed up as a Ku Klux Klansman. So much for plausible deniability.
Northam refused to resign and is finishing out his term. I can’t imagine any Republican surviving such a scandal. But if it weren’t for double standards, some folks would have no standards at all.
This brings us back to Gruden. Apparently, behavioral standards for NFL coaches are higher than for governors and presidents. Ponder that.
Maybe someday we’ll learn the identity and motive of Gruden’s assassin.
In the meantime, Northam will soon be cleaning out his desk. Virginia voters elected Republican Glenn Younkin as governor last month. He’ll be sworn in on January 12.
Presumably, testimonial dinners for the outgoing governor will be limited to 25 participants, whether indoors or outside.
