NFL Off Topic

[inkcil]

Re: NFL Off Topic

No, which is why the theory doesn't make any sense.

Yeah, it really didn't make sense to me either but I wasn't able to see if that was coming from the article or somewhere else.

The theory basically just turns the "blame" on Smith (making him or someone affiliated with him the villain), which is why I was wondering who is reporting that.

[SmashMan]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Yeah, it really didn't make sense to me either but I wasn't able to see if that was coming from the article or somewhere else.

The theory basically just turns the "blame" on Smith (making him or someone affiliated with him the villain), which is why I was wondering who is reporting that.

The relevant (to this question) excerpt from the article:

Jon Gruden, the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, in 2011 used racist terms to denounce DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the N.F.L. Players Association, who is Black and has been facing opposition within the union to the extension of his contract.

The email surfaced just hours before the player representatives for the 32 teams voted to give Smith a fifth term as the union’s leader, this time without having to hold a general election. Smith was not endorsed by the union’s selection committee earlier this week, a sign that he was facing unusually stiff opposition within his own ranks. Some players have accused Smith of being too conciliatory to the league.

There is reason to believe the league’s owners prefer that he stay, and such an inflammatory email, first reported by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by The New York Times, complicated the vote for players who opposed Smith.

While Smith has been combative with the N.F.L. at times, he is viewed favorably by many owners who worked closely with him last season to get the players back on the field during the pandemic.

There's no specific link drawn or details provided in the article, and it's unclear to me whether "there is reason to believe" applies to both the belief that owners prefer he stay and that this news complicates the vote...or if it only applies to the former and the second half of that sentence is the author providing additional context.

I think it's only referring to the bit about the owners, but I could see it being read both ways. That might be what's happening here. In either case, this point is not presented as a main factor of the story.

[slickdtc]

NFL Off Topic

It could be related to the NFLPA vote, or the league wanting to protect Goodell’s image, or the league wanting to protect its own image, or someone at the Raiders wanting to bury Gruden, or someone at the Raiders who believes having a HC telling people what to do / how to be is a fraud in his own personal life, or someone from WFT wanting to expose that it’s not just WFT culture, or... the point is, it was so ugly that multiple people had a chance and a decent reason to put this out there, and someone did.

He really did take a big fat dump on everyone and now he’s paying for it. Those emails were actually private but because WFT got exposed as a cancerous place to work for some people, they became public as part of an investigation. I would feel bad if it wasn’t so idiotic to put this down electronically and to be such a ****ing ******* in the first place.

Also, there’s plenty of others who hold all or some of the same views as Gruden. And it’s probably not too big of a secret if you’re within those circles of who is who. The question is is there a paper trail like this or do those people just keep it private in talks with others? Even so, we’re probably going to get former players speaking out about their experiences being in the league and a who’s who of which coaches, personnel, executives, and players (current and former) are scumbags. I’d wager there’s a lot, but not all are as dumb or as vocal about it as others.

[roadman]

Re: NFL Off Topic

The emails started 10 years ago, but they didn't end 10 years ago.

I think I read where they continued through 2018, just before becoming HC

of the Raiders.

[ProfessaPackMan]

NFL Off Topic

You got to be a real naive person to think the league leaked those emails out only because they thought he was a bad person.

If you really think they care only about the words he said, then whew buddy….lol. This whole thing is bigger than that, he was just the one they league decided was going to fall on the sword.

They better hope it doesn’t get any uglier besides this and no more emails leak out. Almost makes me wish Kap didn’t settle just so I could see what those emails said, which I imagine aren’t pretty either.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: NFL Off Topic

It could be related to the NFLPA vote, or the league wanting to protect Goodell’s image, or the league wanting to protect its own image, or someone at the Raiders wanting to bury Gruden, or someone at the Raiders who believes having a HC telling people what to do / how to be is a fraud in his own personal life, or someone from WFT wanting to expose that it’s not just WFT culture, or... the point is, it was so ugly that multiple people had a chance and a decent reason to put this out there, and someone did.

Could also be the same reason you hear normal workplace gossip. Someone had something to talk about and so they talked for no other reason than they could.

[ggsimmonds]

Re: NFL Off Topic

You got to be a real naive person to think the league leaked those emails out only because they thought he was a bad person.

If you really think they care only about the words he said, then whew buddy….lol. This whole thing is bigger than that, he was just the one they league decided was going to fall on the sword.

They better hope it doesn’t get any uglier besides this and no more emails leak out. Almost makes me wish Kap didn’t settle just so I could see what those emails said, which I imagine aren’t pretty either.

Which is why I don't think the league wanted these emails out there.

They want the talk to be about the successful return of football and not talk about toxic and bigot culture.

Think they forwarded the info to the Raiders to pass the buck.

[ProfessaPackMan]

NFL Off Topic

Oh most definitely.

This is going to get messy and make a LOT of people have to entertain certain convos that they already try hard to avoid in the first place.

And they can’t blame cancel culture on this either.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Which is why I don't think the league wanted these emails out there.

They want the talk to be about the successful return of football and not talk about toxic and bigot culture.

Think they forwarded the info to the Raiders to pass the buck.

I think they want the talk to be about a specific toxic bigot so that he can kicked out the door to kill the story. This investigation was about Washington and somehow only Gruden is catching fire? The WFT was raided by federal agents less than a week ago!

[Jr.]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I think they want the talk to be about a specific toxic bigot so that he can kicked out the door to kill the story. This investigation was about Washington and somehow only Gruden is catching fire? The WFT was raided by federal agents less than a week ago!

Was that raid related to this? I know it was about some criminal investigation into the head trainer, but I hadn't heard any connection to the other stuff that had gone on with the WFT

Sent from my SM-G970U using Operation Sports mobile app

[ggsimmonds]

Re: NFL Off Topic

I think they want the talk to be about a specific toxic bigot so that he can kicked out the door to kill the story. This investigation was about Washington and somehow only Gruden is catching fire? The WFT was raided by federal agents less than a week ago!

It doesn't kill the story though. Instead he gets kicked out the door and its the headline. A very good week of football overshadowed by Gruden's emails and resignation is not what the NFL wanted.

And now they have to deal with fielding questions relating to the culture of the NFL and as pack said, entertain convos they would rather avoid.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Was that raid related to this? I know it was about some criminal investigation into the head trainer, but I hadn't heard any connection to the other stuff that had gone on with the WFT

Sent from my SM-G970U using Operation Sports mobile app

The raid was something different from what I’ve read online.

WFT are involved because of the whole workplace issue in regards to the pimping out Cheerleaders to STHs scandal from a few years ago.

[slickdtc]

NFL Off Topic

Was that raid related to this? I know it was about some criminal investigation into the head trainer, but I hadn't heard any connection to the other stuff that had gone on with the WFT

Sent from my SM-G970U using Operation Sports mobile app

Another guy on the WFT staff got put on leave or suspended too. Supposedly it’s a DEA investigation but I wonder if it reaches around the NFL or these dudes were slinging on the side. It’s not quite a secret that players have been fed different medications like candy, though I thought it had leveled off over the years as opiod addiction has become such an issue and gotten attention / heat from authorities. A goalie in the NHL just accused (then backtracked) a coach of feeding guys Ambien without proper medical clearance.

[cima]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Can't say I'm surprised but this is effectively the last we'll see or hear from Gruden for the rest of his life unless you go to his Twitter or something cause he definitely won't be hired to be on TV by anyone.

[Master Live 013]

Re: NFL Off Topic

Imagine blaming the NYT for this Gotta focus.