Jon Gruden says he did not intend to be racist when he insulted DeMaurice Smith in an email 10 years ago, and Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown believes his former coach.
Brown, who played for Gruden with the Raiders from 1998-2001, defended his longtime friend in a recent interview with SiriusXM Radio. Gruden has said he wrote in the 2011 email that Smith “has lips the size of michellin tires” as a way of calling the NFLPA executive director a liar. Brown said he has heard Gruden use the phrase “rubber lips” to describe people he believes are being untruthful.
“I’ve heard Jon use the term rubber lips before, meaning that this guy’s double-talking, or he’s doing whatever,” Brown said, as transcribed by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “That’s just a term that he uses.”
Brown said he thinks so highly of Gruden that some people might think he’s talking about his father with the way he gushes over the coach. The Raiders legend added that he has never experienced anything in all his years of knowing Gruden that indicated Gruden is racist.
“Never, ever have I gotten anything from him that made me even pause, to think about, ‘Hmm, that didn’t come off right,’” Brown said. “I think if you know Gruden, if you know anything about him, or if you’ve been around him, especially for the length of time that I’ve been knowing him, then you would have gotten a hint that this guy is not right. There’s something that’s not right about him. There’s no way I would have ever.”
That meshes with the message Mike Tirico and Tony Dungy delivered during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” broadcast. Both analysts defended Gruden’s character and said they felt his apology was sincere.
The Raiders condemned Gruden’s remark about Smith in a statement. It’s unclear if the 58-year-old will face disciplinary action from either the team or the NFL.
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