Tampa Bay Buccaneers to reinstate Jon Gruden into Ring of Honor

NFL champion coach Jon Gruden will be reinstated into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium, four years after his removal.

“Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Buccaneers 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. Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor,” the team said in a statement.

He won’t be honored with a second induction ceremony, according to ESPN.

Gruden, whose Bucs won the 2003 Super Bowl, was taken off the ring, in which he was inducted in 2017, due to private emails he sent to former Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen that leaked in 2021.

The emails were first found by NFL investigators during their probe of the Washington team and its workplace environment under former owner Dan Snyder.

In the notes, Gruden denounced players who protested the national anthem, the hiring of women as referees and the drafting of openly gay lineman Michael Sam, used racially derogatory terms to refer to former NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith and called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a “clueless anti football p——,” according to The New York Times.

Gruden was a broadcaster on ESPN at the time the emails were sent from 2011 to 2018. Their leaking in 2021 led him to resign as the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, and he has remained out of the league since.

“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,” the team said at the time of his 2021 removal, according to The Associated Press.