What was said in the emails?
In emails from 2011, while he was at ESPN, through early 2018, Gruden frequently unleashed racist, homophobic and misogynistic language in conversations with Allen and others. During the N.F.L. team owners’ preseason lockout of the players in 2011, Gruden, who is white, used a racial trope and insulted the intelligence of DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association, who is Black. Those remarks were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
In emails detailed by The Times, Gruden used homophobic language to characterize Roger Goodell, the N.F.L. commissioner, and when referring to Michael Sam, a gay player drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014. He also criticized Goodell’s efforts to reduce concussions, denounced the emergence of women as referees and said that Eric Reid, one of the first players to join the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in protesting racism and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem, should be fired.
Gruden also used offensive language to describe some N.F.L. owners, coaches and journalists who cover the league. And he, Allen and other men exchanged pictures of women wearing only bikini bottoms, including one photo of two Washington team cheerleaders.
How were the emails discovered?
The correspondence — more than 650,000 emails — came to light as part of an investigation into the Washington Football Team, which fired Allen in 2019. The N.F.L. fined the club $10 million this summer after concluding a yearlong inquiry that found that the team had fostered a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and intimidation. Reports from The Washington Post and The Times detailed the misdeeds of the club, including the sexual harassment of cheerleaders.