Former NFL player Richie Incognito has offered his support to former Raiders coach Jon Gruden after his recent bid for a rehearing was denied by the Nevada Supreme Court. The court's ruling concerned the lawsuit Gruden filed against the NFL and whether the appeal should be heard in court or in private arbitration.
The case concerns Gruden emails that were leaked to the media before he resigned as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Incognito was a guest on “The Rush with Maxx Crosby,” and the subject was Gruden's state of mind following the unfavorable court ruling.
Incognito has been in fairly regular communication with Gruden and says the former coach and NFL analyst has a positive mindset.
“My parents live down in Naples, Florida, so whenever I'm down there, I go up to Tampa to play golf with him,” Incognito said (44:10 mark). “So he's in good spirits; you know, he's great. He's got his office; he's watching film; he's breaking things down, but I'd just love to see him back in the game. Man, he's good for football.”
Gruden has been out of the NFL since 2021
Gruden was forced to resign his post as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 when emails he had written were leaked. Those emails were written when he was an analyst at ESPN, and they contained racist and homophobic material.
Gruden contends he was forced to resign by the league and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The former coach was with the network when the emails were sent from 2011 to 2018 to former Washington Commanders executive Bruce Allen. At the time, the league was conducting an investigation of the workplace culture within the Commanders.
In his lawsuit, Gruden claims the release of his documents demonstrated evidence of the league's intent to cause the end of his coaching tenure with the Raiders.
In denying the rehearing, the court said NFL bylaws allowed for arbitration to resolve disputes, and said it wasn't clear whether Goodell or a designated third-party arbitrator would hear Gruden’s case.
Gruden contended it would be unfair if Goodell served as the arbitrator in a case where he was named as a defendant. One of the justices in the three-judge panel agreed with Gruden on that point.
Incognito remains a big fan of the former coach
Incognito is no stranger to controversy himself. He was charged with bullying Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin, which led to the team suspending the former offensive lineman.
Incognito did not comment on the specific issues of Jon Gruden's case, but he is clearly a supporter. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Gruden and love him. After all this went down, I have just been trying to support him.
“He was always so supportive of us, and he cared about everybody on that team, from your starting quarterback all the way down to the 53rd guy on the roster. So everyone had a special connection with coach. I just stayed on him, stayed positive and tried to send him some funny stuff.”
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