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Diasabra 23 OctOber 2021

Fallout from Jon Gruden emails leads to diversity questions

(AP) - Every week for the past raised a red flag, nobody brought it to few years, especially in the NFL. ney, Chairwoman of the Committee
two seasons, NFL players take anybody’s attention. It was a normal We have the logos on the backs of on Oversight and Reform, and Rep.
the field wearing social justice thing. the helmets and in the backs of the Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chairman of
messages on their helmets, and end zones. I think that’s why it’s im- the Subcommittee on Economic
“It Takes All of Us” and “End “And I think that’s the culture behind portant to have different cultures in and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to
Racism” are stenciled in the end the scenes that we need to change. those positions, right? Because you’re NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
zones as part of the league’s In- And so again, we can clap our hands not getting it all from one set of any requesting documents and informa-
spire Change platform. at all of the pageantry that we’ve done type of person. tion regarding the investigation and
now as everybody’s kind of come to the league’s handling of it.
But actions often speak louder than this social justice narrative, but un- “And so, obviously qualified, you’ve “The NFL has one of the most
words. til you start to see a change in lead- got to be qualified to be in those po- prominent platforms in America, and
ership, whether it be more Black sitions. But I think that’s why it’s its decisions can have national im-
The fallout from Jon Gruden’s coaches, more Black GMs, a diversity important: you get different back- plications,” the chairs wrote. “The
emails has many questioning what it in ownership, then I don’t know how grounds, you get different opinions, NFL’s lack of transparency about
will take to really change the culture we expect the culture of the NFL to you get different things glowing in the problems it recently uncovered
in the NFL. change.” that aspect of it. So, yeah, guys talk raise questions about the seriousness
about it.” with which it has addressed bigotry,
“I can’t say that I was surprised at all Troy Vincent, a six-time Pro Bowl racism, sexism, and homophobia —
that that kind of dialogue is happen- cornerback, former president of the Hall of Fame wide receiver Jerry Rice setting troubling precedent for other
ing behind the scenes,” three-time NFL Players Association and current played for Gruden in Oakland after workplaces.
Pro Bowl safety Malcolm Jenkins NFL executive vice president of foot- leaving the San Francisco 49ers. He
said on the AP Pro Football Podcast. ball operations, agrees with Jenkins. said he was “shocked” to hear Gruden The Committee is seeking to fully
“I think that we understand the cul- expressed racist, homophobic and understand this workplace conduct
ture of the NFL and we can put ‘In- “A key learning from working on misogynistic thoughts in emails he and the league’s response, which will
spire Change’ logos all over the field these issues over the past three de- wrote from 2011-18 to then-Wash- help inform legislative efforts to ad-
and create logos all we want, but until cades is that diversity is a fact, inclu- ington club executive Bruce Allen. At dress toxic work environments and
you actually change what leadership sion is a choice,” Vincent told the AP. the time, Gruden was an ESPN ana- workplace investigation processes;
looks like, you can’t expect to change “Collectively, a necessary decision to lyst between coaching jobs. strengthen protections for women in
the culture.” be made is that inclusion matters. In- the workplace; and address the use of
clusion, whether that is race, gender, “It goes against everything that we’ve non-disclosure agreements to pre-
In a sport with about 70% of the play- sexual orientation, age or otherwise, been trying to change,” Rice said. vent the disclosure of unlawful em-
ers Black, more than 80% of head leads to better decisions, outcomes, ployment practices, including sexual
coaches (27 of 32) and general man- and impact. Malcolm is spot on. The NFL has not publicly released harassment. We hope and trust that
agers (also 27 of 32) are white. Among These recent public revelations are a what is in the 650,000 emails the the NFL shares the Committee’s goal
principal owners, only Jacksonville’s call for culture change and taking ac- independent investigators collected of protecting American workers from
Shad Khan and Buffalo’s Kim Pegula tion.” during an investigation of sexual ha- harassment and discrimination.”
are members of minorities. rassment and other workplace con-
Denver Broncos safety Justin Sim- ditions at the Washington Football Jenkins said “transparency” will “ex-
“In the case of Jon Gruden, obviously mons says the NFL has made prog- Team. Gruden resigned last week as pose the culture of the NFL.”
it’s very disappointing to the people ress in recent years, but more needs Las Vegas Raiders coach after his den-
who respected him, look up to him to be done. igrating comments were reported. “We have a long history, obviously, in
and the man he was to our league,” this country of things being white-
Jenkins said. “But I think if we fo- “Guys in the locker room talk about NFL Players Association chief DeM- dominated. ... and we’ve never really
cus only on Jon Gruden, then we that stuff, man,” Simmons said about aurice Smith has called for the league about-faced from that type of envi-
miss the bigger picture, which is that racist views coming from people in to release every email from the inves- ronment or that culture, especially
he was able to exist like that because leadership positions. “I think that’s tigation. when it comes to the very top deci-
the culture around him accepted it. why it’s important that we’ve been sion makers in the league,” Jenkins
When he sent those emails, nobody putting a spotlight on (it) in the past On Thursday, Rep. Carolyn B. Malo- said.

US Rowing accepts resignation of longtime men’s coach Teti

(AP) — Longtime U.S. high-performance train- on restructuring within the Rowing “won’t have any them if they challenged him
rowing coach Mike Teti, ing club that still has ties program did not address the contracts with any of the in any way.
who has been criticized to the national program. allegations but rather the high-performance clubs.”
by some of his former ath- need for immediate change Teti, meanwhile, was an-
letes as being emotionally The Associated Press in July after the U.S. team failed to She posted a letter on the nounced as head coach of
abusive and using physical reported that American row- win any medals at the Tokyo governing body’s website last elite rowers and prospects for
intimidation, has resigned ers under Teti feared his in- Summer Olympics. Friday addressed to “national California Rowing Club — at
but immediately accept- tense and intimidating style. team athletes, hopefuls, part- the same boathouse where he
ed a position funded by a An announcement from US Kraus, who took over in ners, supporters and friends” trained Olympians and oth-
large donor leading a new Rowing CEO Amanda Kraus November 2020, said there that stated “meaningful er hopefuls in recent years
will no longer be a formal changes need to be made in ahead of the Tokyo Games.
relationship with Teti and order to create an athlete-
she accepted his resignation focused approach” going for- This center, funded by the
last week. She expressed the ward. Rogers Family Foundation,
sport’s commitment to new will give elite rowers a choice
leadership and direction for Nine rowers who spoke for whether to train there un-
the build up to the 2024 Paris the AP story described Teti’s der Teti or with the national
Olympics. intimidation — all but one team. US Rowing will cen-
discussing the situation on tralize its men’s and women’s
“We are thinking about a condition of anonymity be- training centers in Princeton,
culture that focuses more cause they either want to con- New Jersey, where the wom-
on athlete wellness, athlete tinue in the sport or feared en’s teams were already head-
care and communication, all retaliation — and said they quartered. The center will
of those things,” Kraus said have direct knowledge of the host 12 men and 12 women
Thursday in a phone inter- coach physically threatening as full-time residents.
view, later adding that US athletes or verbally attacking