The fallout continues.
Jon Gruden resigned this week as coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after the release of the several damaging emails sent by the (now former) coach.
First it came to light that the former coach sent an email back in 2011 referring to DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFL Players Association:
“Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires.”
Jon said he didn’t remember saying it, but claimed that he often times referred to liars as “rubber lips” and that the comment wasn’t racially motivated.
More than 650,000 emails were reviewed from 2010 until now as part of a workplace misconduct investigation into the Washington Football Team, with some emails calling Roger Goodell a “clueless anti-football p*ssy,” as well as a “f****t. He also commented on Michael Sam, the first openly gay NFL player, saying Goodell shouldn’t have pressured the Rams to draft “queers.”
Gruden also denounced the idea of the NFL hiring female referees, and made comments about current President Joe Biden, who he called a “clueless anti-football p*ssy,” as well as former President Barack Obama.
After the emails came to light, Gruden announced he would be resigning as Raiders head coach so he wouldn’t be a “distraction” to the team.
And since resigning, the fallout over the emails has continued, first with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announcing that they would be removing their former coach from their Ring of Honor.
Now, EA Sports has announced that they will also be removing Gruden from Madden NFL 22 and replacing him with a generic likeness.
In a statement, EA Sports said:
“EA Sports is committed to taking action in maintaining a culture of inclusion and equity.
Due to the circumstances of Jon Gruden’s resignation, we are taking steps to remove him from Madden NFL 22.
We will replace him with a generic likeness via a title update in the coming weeks.”
This isn’t the first time that EA Sports has removed somebody from their popular Madden video game franchise.
In 2014, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice was removed from Madden NFL 15 after video surfaced of Rice dragging his unconscious fiancée out of an elevator at a casino.
Running back Kareem Hunt was removed from Madden NFL 19 after a video showed Hunt knocking a woman to the ground and kicking her during an altercation at a hotel.
Hunt was never charged for the incident, but he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs mid-season before being picked up the following season by the Cleveland Browns. His character has since been restored in subsequent versions of Madden.
And New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was removed from both Madden NFL 25 and College Football 14 after he was charged with murder.
