Brent Musburger blasts NFL over Jon Gruden situation

Jon Gruden recently filed a lawsuit against the NFL over his leaked email scandal, and one legendary broadcaster seems to think the former Las Vegas Raiders coach had a strong case.

Brent Musburger, the former voice of college football who now does radio calls for the Raiders, shared some strong thoughts on the Gruden situation this week. He told J.T. The Brick of the Las Vegas Sports Network that he believes Gruden was the target of a “paid assassin.”

“As I told Coach, whoever took you out, Jon, that was a paid assassin,” Musburger said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “That was one of the best hit jobs that I’ve ever been around. They didn’t go to their media goombahs. They didn’t leak this to Adam Schefter or one of those guys that breaks stories. They first went to the Wall Street Journal. And when Gruden was still coaching after that, then they dumped the rest of it on the New York Times. That was a professional hit job.”

Gruden stepped down as head coach of the Raiders several weeks ago after two rounds of his offensive personal emails leaked. He filed a lawsuit against the NFL that accuses the league of intentionally releasing the emails at a time that would inflict maximum damage. Gruden also says the NFL threatened to release the second batch of emails if the first leak didn’t cost him his job.

Musburger isn’t convinced that the leak came from the NFL, as he mentioned that the Washington Football Team also had access to the emails. However, he said it would be shameful if the NFL were responsible.

“So I think the hardest part for Gruden’s lawyers to prove is that somebody from the National Football League actually leaked that,” Musburger added. “Because if it is somebody from the NFL, shame on them. Because (Raiders owner) Mark Davis should have been told in the summer, when he had something to do about it.”

The emails Gruden sent came from the 2011-2018 time period. They were uncovered during the NFL’s investigation into the Washington Football Team regarding the franchise’s workplace environment. More than 650,000 emails were reviewed as part of the investigation, but the NFL has reportedly claimed Gruden’s were the only damaging ones.

Someone who spoke with Gruden last month said the former coach believes the “truth” will eventually come out.

Photo: Sep 19, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden takes the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports