Former Raiders Coach Jon Gruden Scores Two Legal Victories Against NFL

Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden had two minor legal victories on Wednesday when a Nevada judge denied the NFL’s motion to dismiss his lawsuit and force it into arbitration.

Jon Gruden resigned as head coach of the Oakland Raiders in October of last year after several past emails surfaced in which he said that black NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith had “lips the size of Michelin tires.” In another email, Gruden also called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a “fa***t” and a “clueless anti-football p***y.”

DeMaurice Smith, Executive Director of the NFLPA (Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

Though the sports community largely supported Gruden’s resignation, he charged that the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell created “a malicious and orchestrated campaign” to leak that emails and destroy his reputation. In response to the ruling on Wednesday, the NFL said that neither the league nor Goodell leaked the emails to the media.

“We believe Coach Gruden’s claims should have been compelled to arbitration, and we will file an appeal of the Court’s determination,” the league said in a statement. “The Court’s denial of our motion to dismiss is not a determination on the merits of Coach Gruden’s lawsuit, which, as we have said from the outset, lacks a basis in law and fact and proceeds from a false premise — neither the NFL nor the Commissioner leaked Coach Gruden’s offensive emails.”

Speaking outside the courtroom, Gruden said the “process will take care of itself.”

“We are going to let the process take care of itself,” Gruden said outside the courtroom. “Good luck to the Raiders. Go Raiders. I don’t have anything [else] to comment on. This process will take care of itself. It’s good to be back in Vegas. I am going to see friends tonight.”

Former Las Vegas Raiders Coach Jon Gruden (Chris Unger/Getty Images)

In a March filing, Gruden’s attorneys said that NFL and Goodell “leaked a carefully curated selection of Gruden’s emails, sent years before the Raiders hired him, to its customary outlets for leaking information to the media.”

“Defendants then purposefully leveraged these emails to force Gruden to resign, and ultimately caused Gruden to lose his coaching career, endorsements, and sponsorships,” the attorneys added.

As noted by ABC News, the judge’s dismissal to have Gruden’s lawsuit go to arbitration means that a trial could help uncover who actually leaked the emails that ultimately destroyed his career.