The head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders said that the Black leader of the NFL Players Association “has lips the size of michellin [sic] tires” in a July 2011 email, The Wall Street Journal reports. Jon Gruden took aim at DeMaurice Smith, whom Gruden called “Dumboriss Smith,” in the email to a Raiders executive as Smith and others in the NFLPA were negotiating a way out of a lockout that would have thrown a wrench into the 2011-2012 season. Smith said, “Racism like this comes from the fact that I’m at the same table as they are and they don’t think someone who looks like me belongs… I will not let it define me.” Gruden apologized in a statement: “I’m really sorry… I don’t have a racial bone in my body, and I’ve proven that for 58 years.” The NFL is reviewing Gruden’s message, which surfaced as part of a wider NFL review of racism at NFL franchises that includes 650,000 emails.
