NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, ex-Commanders owner Dan Snyder accused of leaking Jon Gruden emails

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and outgoing Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder may have played roles in the infamous email leaks that led to Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s 2021 firing.

Four unnamed team owners told ESPN that they think Goodell was personally involved with the leak, while another ownership source said it was league executives who approved the leaked emails, which contained racist and homophobic statements by Gruden.

The Wall Street Journal reported in October of 2021 that Gruden had used a racist term in emails dating back to describe NFL union chief DeMaurice Smith. Gruden resigned the following day, shortly after The New York Times revealed additional offensive emails. Gruden sued the league in November of 2021, claiming the NFL and Goodell engaged in a ‘orchestrated a malicious campaign’ to ‘destroy his career and reputation.’

Speaking with ESPN this week, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy repeated the league’s denial that Goodell had any involvement in the leak: ‘Neither the NFL nor the commissioner leaked Coach Gruden’s offensive emails.’

The messages were sent from 2011 to 2018 by Gruden to several people, including former Washington Redskins executive Bruce Allen, while Gruden was an announcer at ESPN. Gruden coached in the NFL from 1990 to 2008, including head-coaching stints with the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was hired by the Raiders again in 2018, the team’s first year in Las Vegas.

Jon Gruden appears in court in May of 2022 after a hearing in his ongoing lawsuit with the NFL

Four unnamed team owners told ESPN that they think Goodell was involved with the leak, while Snyder is also accused of sharing the emails with the New York Times and Wall Street Journal

In one email, Gruden said Smith, who is black, had ‘lips the size of Michelin tires’ and also called Goodell a ‘f*****’ in another message. 

It was the NFL’s investigation into sexual harassment allegations Snyder and the Commanders that uncovered Gruden’s emails to Allen, who was fired by Washington after the team went 3-13 in 2019 and later found himself in his own legal battle with Snyder over the remainder of his contract. 

Snyder, who is awaiting league approval on his $6 billion sale of the Commanders, is also being accused of leaking the emails to the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. 

According to ESPN interviews with executives, lawyers, agents, as well as league and team officials, Snyder is accused of leaking the emails with the help of his law firm, Reed Smith, and Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez. (Roc Nation, the entertainment agency founded by Jay-Z in 2008, has a $25 million contract to aid the NFL on social justice issues)

Sources told ESPN that Snyder was hoping to deflect blame over sexual harassment allegations against himself and the team onto Allen by leaking the emails. Furthermore, ESPN reports, Snyder was hoping to gain favor with Goodell by giving him ammunition against Gruden, one of his long-time critics.

Allen did not respond to phone messages from DailyMail.com, and the Commanders declined to comment when contacted by ESPN.

While the Commanders have fired many of the individuals accused of sexual harassment and paid a $10 million fine to the NFL, Snyder has defiantly denied accusations against him in the face of subsequent investigations. Sexual harassment allegations against team employees ranged from inappropriate comments to the creation of a lewd behind-the-scenes video from a cheerleader calendar shoot in 2008, according to the 2020 Washington Post report that first uncovered the claims.

ESPN is reporting that one Reed Smith attorney told a source before and after the leaks that the firm and Perez were involved in the plan to leak the emails, although their exact actions were never specified.

Perez’s significance in the alleged scheme isn’t clear, but she is said to serve a dual role as an NFL consultant with sway in the league office and as a Snyder ally and confidant.

Reed Smith’s Jordan Siev – Snyder’s attorney – denied his firm’s involvement in the leaks to ESPN: ‘Neither Dan Snyder nor anyone on his or the team’s behalf ever requested or authorized that Reed Smith [leak the emails]. Any assertion to the contrary is false.’

Perez declined to comment to ESPN and a Roc Nation spokesperson did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.

However, Perez’s attorney did tell ESPN that she ‘had no role whatsoever in the leaking of any emails, or in any discussion or decision to leak any emails.’

Interestingly, Gruden’s brother, Jay, worked for Snyder and Allen as the Redskin’s head coach from 2014 until 2019, although he has not been implicated in the matter. 

NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith allegedly bragged about having a role in the leaks, according to one associate who pointed out that the reports came as Smith was facing a union vote to keep his job.

Smith declined to speak with ESPN.