If Ron Jaworski, who choked like a dog in Super Bowl XV, can get away with using a blatant racist dog whistle — Dolphins defenders resent what Ron Jaworski said about them partying and not working — saying, right on the air, on Philadelphia's flagship sports talk radio station, WIP, that (black) members of the Miami defense were happy to see defensive coordinator Vic Fangio depart for the same job with the Eagles because they are "lazy," without any consequences whatsoever (both Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder and Rush Limbaugh got fired, by CBS and ESPN, respectively, for a lot less) — then why does Jon Gruden remain on an NFL blacklist a la John Henry Faulk for some private e-mails he allegedly authored 14 years ago?
(Yes, Gruden is currently employed as a "consultant" by the Saints — but as Little Anthony and the Imperials sang back in 1969, that is a case of Out of Sight, Out of Mind if ever there was one).
Quoting verbatim from an article courtesy of National Public Radio, "In the e-mails, Gruden used 'homophobic' and 'sexist' language. He criticized the league for trying to reduce concussions; he complained about a player who participated in the national anthem protests; he shared photos of topless women; and he used racist tropes to criticize the head of the NFL Players Association, a Black man. He sent the messages to multiple people, including Bruce Allen, then the president of the Washington Football Team" (that team is now known as the Washington Commanders).
A lot of people — including present company, on numerous occasions — complained about the national anthem protests; and any ad hominem attacks made by a member of management directed at the head of a union during a bitter labor dispute, while unfortunate, are entirely understandable (at least management isn't hiring Pinkerton goons to break strikers' heads anymore, the way they used to). And racist tropes? You mean the kind of "racist tropes" that have been told at every single (white) dinner table in America at one time or another — especially the dinner tables of "white ethnics" like Jon Gruden, who is of Slovenian descent and was born and raised in rough-and-tumble Sandusky, Ohio (as was NCAA wrestling champion and then UFC heavyweight champion, the late Kevin Randleman, who was African-American)?
And Bruce Allen is the brother of George Allen, Jr. (son of George Allen, Sr., who liked to run up scores against overmatched opponents but, like Jaworski, saw his teams choke in every big game they ever played in), who stepped in it big time by using an overt racial slur during his re-election campaign for his Senate seat from Virginia in 2006 — which, in keeping with the family tradition, he lost, at a time when Democrats were on the ascendant, as they say in astrology, in that state (the Allens are Republicans, of course).
So far as topless women go, that is reminiscent of that famous scene from Casablanca: "I'm shocked — shocked — to find that gambling is going on in here."
As for "homophobic and sexist language" by a football coach?
Surprising.
What's not surprising?
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And aren't we supposed to believe in second chances — especially the same "wokesters" among us who forced the Washington Redskins to change their name?
(If Gruden does get that second chance, it would be poetic justice if Nick Sirianni picks up where he left off next season and the Eagles get off to like an 0-5 start, from which no NFL team has ever overcome to make the playoffs, and Sirianni gets fired and replaced by Gruden, who spent three years in Philadelphia as offensive coordinator under the notoriously foul-mouthed head coach Ray Rhodes — and who, unlike Sirianni, has a ring from his days at Tampa Bay, where his mantra, "Pound the Rock," would be veritably eaten up by the Eagles' fan base.)
Free the Slovenian One.
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