Bucs removing Jon Gruden from Ring of Honor
TAMPA — The Bucs announced Tuesday they are removing former coach Jon Gruden’s name from the franchise’s Ring of Honor following a report revealing his use of racist, misogynistic and homophobic language in emails over a period of several years.
The Bucs’ announcement comes a day after Gruden, 58, resigned as coach of the Raiders.
“The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have advocated for purposeful change in the areas of race relations, gender equality, diversity and inclusion for many years,” the team said in a statement released late Tuesday afternoon.
“While we acknowledge Jon Gruden’s contributions on the field, his actions go against our core values as an organization. Therefore, he will no longer continue to be a member of the Buccaneers Ring of Honor.”
Gruden, who coached the Bucs for seven seasons and led the franchise to its first Super Bowl title in January 2003, was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor in December 2017.
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