At the weekend, the racism scandal around Raiders head coach Jon Gruden shook the NFL. After the loss to the Bears, some of his players are also speaking out about the allegations for the first time.

Munich – Over the weekend, an email shook the NFL.

Ten years ago, during the 2011 lockout, now Raiders coach Jon Gruden had sent an email to the then president of the Washington football team. In it, Gruden wrote that the black president of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, had “lips as big as Michelin tyres”.

The message recently came to light during the NFL investigation into the former Redskins and is available to The Wall Street Journal.

Gruden has apologized multiple times

Gruden, who has since apologised several times for his comment and affirmed that it was in no way meant to be racist, had already informed his players of the facts on Friday. After the 9:20 defeat against the Chicago Bears, some of his protégés have now spoken out about the scandal for the first time.

“I’ve been working with this guy for three years now, I’ve never thought about him in a certain way. He’s never treated me that way either,” explained Black running back Josh Jacobs. “What he said, he said. But, I definitely trust him. His statement was ten years ago. People grow. “

Linebacker Denzel Perryman also didn’t want to make too much of his coach’s comment. “I forgot about it by the time we got out of the meeting room,” he explained. “I’m not focusing on it. I don’t know what he said. I don’t even care, to be honest. I don’t know how many years ago it was, but my main focus this week was on the Bears and not what he said. “

Carr backs Gruden

Quarterback Derek Carr also backed Gruden up. “We as a team said, ‘Yeah, coach, that was 10 years ago. We love you. We’ve got your back,'” he reported from a meeting of the players after Gruden informed them of the incident last Friday.

“We’re just trying to support the coach. I know it’s a tough time for him. He told us, ‘Guys, learn from my mistake.'”

However, even if the playmaker is not angry with his head coach, he had to admit that he can understand if people feel hurt by the words.

Within the team, however, not all players seem to have the same opinion as Carr. Defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, for example, answered the question of how the black players on the team felt with: “No comment. “