The Jon Gruden era in Las Vegas was full of highs and lows – big hopes, bigger personalities. And plenty of moments that left Raiders fans both excited and disappointed. But one decision nobody questioned? Using a 2019 fourth-round pick on Maxx Crosby, a tough, hardworking DE from Eastern Michigan. While Gruden’s time as HC had its good and bad moments, finding Crosby, who quickly became the next star pass rusher after Khalil Mack in Vegas, was a clear success.
Then came the 2021 season. What started as a promising 3-0 start crumbled fast when a decade-old email scandal exploded into public view. Gruden’s past comments, dug up from his time as an ESPN analyst, became a firestorm the Raiders couldn’t contain. The coach resigned abruptly, leaving players stunned. But for Crosby, the aftermath wasn’t just headlines – it was personal. On Johnny Manziel’s Glory Daze podcast, the Raiders DE got real about the emotional aftermath of Gruden’s resignation. The star pass rusher revealed he went straight to Gruden’s house after the email scandal forced his coach out – and what he saw wasn’t the fiery leader who drafted him, but a man completely broken.
“He’s just sitting in the corner like the Godfather…he couldn’t even look me in the eyes, bro,” Crosby told Manziel. “He was f—– up…tearing up, bro. And he was just like, ‘I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” Most guys would’ve just nodded along. But Crosby? That’s not how he’s wired. “I’m like, ‘Coach, stop f—— apologizing.’”
Wild: Raiders star player Maxx Crosby sits down with college football legend Johnny Manziel to discuss what it was like for him and the Raiders as a team to lose Head Coach Jon Gruden
“I remember it so vividly, we started off so well, than 2 weeks later Henry Ruggs happened” pic.twitter.com/1e6uMreil7
— ShifftttyyyQB1 (@raiders1022) June 13, 2025
Here’s the thing – Gruden was the one who took a chance on Crosby when nobody else would. The coach who saw something special in that Eastern Michigan kid and brought him to Vegas. So when everything went to hell, Crosby knew exactly where he needed to be – right there with his coach. “You’re the one who gave me a shot when nobody else did,” the DE told Gruden.
That loyalty hits harder knowing how it ended. One minute Gruden’s building a contender, the next – poof – gone. Those leaked emails didn’t just cost him his job; they torched everything overnight.
Jon Gruden’s sudden fall
It all unraveled in less than a week. On October 11, 2021, just days after the Wall Street Journal exposed Jon Gruden’s racist 2011 remark, the Raiders HC’s career was done and dusted. The initial report from the Wall Street Journal revealed Gruden had used a racist trope in a 2011 message to then-Washington executive Bruce Allen. Jon’s messages sent between 2011-2018 showed him using racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language that shocked the NFL world.
He called Roger Goodell a “f—-t” and “anti-football p—-,” claimed the Rams were pressured to draft “queers” referring to openly gay player Michael Sam. And said anthem protesters like Eric Reid should be fired. The most damaging? His racist description of NFLPA director DeMaurice Smith‘s lips as “Michelin tires.” Gruden’s immediate response was equal parts apology and defense. “I’m not a racist,” he insisted after a loss to Chicago, his voice shaking. “I can’t tell you how sick I am…I had no racial intentions.” But the damage was done.
The NFL and Raiders owner Mark Davis swiftly condemned the remarks. And within days, the New York Times uncovered more offensive emails containing homophobic and misogynistic language. The football world got whiplash watching ‘Chucky’ unravel. Gruden’s fall from grace hit like a blindside sack. One minute, the fiery Monday Night Football analyst was Vegas’s savior, reviving the Raiders with his signature swagger. The next, those leaked emails exposed a side nobody saw coming – racist remarks, homophobic slurs, all splashed across front pages.
Years later, the Gruden scandal remains one of football’s messiest divorces. A cautionary tale about how fast the NFL can turn on its own. For Crosby, it wasn’t just about losing a coach; it was watching the man who changed his life become a league-wide punchline overnight. The Raiders moved on. Gruden never coached again. But that 2021 season still lives in the ‘what ifs’ – a 3-0 start derailed not by injuries or bad play, but by words written years earlier that refused to stay buried.
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