Did Motor Mouth Gruden Promote Michelin Radials?

While an ESPN broadcaster, Jon Gruden used a “Michellin tire” aka big lips racial trope in an email 10 years ago to criticize & describe black NFLPA Chief DeMaurice Smith. Now Raiders Head Coach, Gruden has apologized & admitted he was pissed at the way labor negotiations had been handled … or, mishandled … in 2011 during an owner lockout & a threatened players strike. BTW, the ‘rubber lips” dig was supposedly used “often” by him to connote another’s “lying”.

Not sure even that end run makes sense since Mr. Motor Mouth said in his apology he “in no way” meant to say Mr. Smith was a liar. But, being a “tell it like it is” sports “color” commentator & once a pretty popular one at that on Monday Night Football broadcasts, it’s still kind of strange to see Mr. Gruden to have gotten so pumped up over an issue he had no control over; that is, as an owner, head coach or player might have had in the unfolding labor strife. He says he "loved the game" so much he couldn't stand watching others ruin it at the time, including the NFL Commissioner whom he also ripped as if Dick Butkus at the bottom of a pile up. Probably so.

Meanwhile, a number of prominent black players have come to Mr. Gruden's defense & confirm, as he says, "I don't have a racist bone in my body ... and I've proven that for 58 years." The players should know since it's pretty hard to be a closet you know what in a football locker room. The Las Vegas odds on this blowing over, however, took a nose dive when the Bears beat the Raiders on Sunday since honest repentance in the self-righteous NFL is not as important as winning. For his sake, let’s hope Mr. Gruden stuck to binary “Xs” & “Os” in his other emails … or, gets a good PR mouth piece who can somehow spin this ridiculous trash talk of his as part of a “bad attempt at a joke in an inappropriate tire ad favoring an ESPN sponsor” … or, maybe just zips it.

Davd Soul