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Jenna Laine
INDIANAPOLIS — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reinstating Super Bowl-winning former head coach Jon Gruden into the team’s Ring of Honor, it was announced Thursday.
Gruden, a former ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst, was removed from the Ring of Honor in 2021 when leaked emails in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal revealed racist, misogynistic and anti-gay comments. At the time, the Bucs said Gruden’s actions went “against our core values as an organization.”
The team will be placing Gruden’s name back on the walls of Raymond James Stadium, but there will be no new ceremony.
“Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Bucs Ring of Honor based on his many accomplishments during his seven seasons as our head coach and he remains a significant figure in the history of our franchise,” the Bucs said in a statement Thursday. “Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.”
The path toward reconciliation began last summer at the celebration of life for former defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, when Lane Kiffin spoke about his father’s belief in second chances. The Glazers then hosted Gruden and his wife, Cindy, in their owners suite for the Nov. 10 game against the San Francisco 49ers, sources said.
The emails, which dated from 2010 to 2018, were part of an investigation into the alleged misconduct of the Washington Football Team and ultimately led to Gruden’s resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
The emails included using a racial trope to describe former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, profane language to describe NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and anti-gay language regarding the NFL’s first openly gay player, Michael Sam. Gruden also used anti-gay language to describe Buccaneers co-owner Bryan Glazer.
