Gruden lawyers to seek testimony from Goodell

Jon Gruden’s attorneys will seek testimony from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and at least four current and former NFL owners in his lawsuit over whether the league leaked the emails that forced his departure as Las Vegas Raiders coach, according to a court filing this week.

Gruden resigned as coach of the Raiders in October 2021 after the publication of emails he sent years earlier that included racist, misogynistic and anti-gay language. His lawsuit, filed months later, accuses the NFL and Goodell of a «malicious and orchestrated campaign» to destroy his career by leaking the emails.

The filing this week revealed there have been no settlement talks.

The NFL has failed several times to get the state case thrown out, including a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court last year, and discovery in the case continues until at least late this year, according to a filing by Gruden’s lawyers this week.

But the filing says Gruden plans to summon Goodell, longtime former NFL counsel Jeff Pash, former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, Raiders owner Mark Davis, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft.

Gruden’s list also includes designees of the New York Giants, Seattle Seahawks, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. In addition, the filing names Roc Nation CEO Desiree Perez, several attorneys with Washington law firm Reed Smith and former NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith.

Gruden attorney Adam Hosmer-Henner declined comment, as did NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, who also is cited in the filing as someone Gruden’s team seeks to question.

A 2023 ESPN story on the Gruden email leaks to The New York Times and Wall Street Journal cited interviews with executives, lawyers, agents and league and team officials, mostly speaking anonymously, who identified a complex web of relationships that might have resulted in the Gruden leaks.

The Nevada Supreme Court last year returned Jon Gruden’s case to the state’s District Court, which has refused the NFL’s motions to seek dismissal. On Jan. 23, the league appealed the court’s latest rejection to the state Supreme Court.

In its filings, the league has said Gruden’s case «hinges solely on unsupported allegations that fail as a matter of law or fall far short of stating a claim and should have been promptly dismissed when the NFL Parties first so moved.»

At the heart of the case originally was whether Gruden’s complaint could proceed toward a trial or be forced into an arbitration process overseen by Goodell, a defendant in the lawsuit. The NFL lost that argument.

Gruden was an on-air analyst for ESPN from 2011 to 2018 when the emails were sent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.