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Opinion
The Daily Aztec
Nov. 10 - 16, 2021 EDITOR: Aaliyah Alexander • opinion@thedailyaztec.com
Jon Gruden’s bad behavior is despicable yet not surprising
EDITOR IN CHIEF Catlan Nguyen MANAGING EDITOR Trinity Bland NEWS EDITOR Katelynn Robinson
by daniela ramirez STAFF WRITER
What could be one of the biggest losses for the Raiders yet is not in a game but their head coach. Jon Gruden “resigned” as the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders with ten years of misogynistic, racist and homophobic language in emails sent to former football executive Bruce Allen and other elite personnel. “I do know this, at that point of my life, eleven years ago or ten years ago, I am sure I vented a little bit…” Gruden told The Athletic. However, “vented a little bit” is an understatement. Gruden’s vulgar thoughts and remarks shared to Allen from 2011 to 2018 is not just a moment of letting off some steam, but is representative of the true beliefs he holds. Gruden is just another privileged white man who got away with it for years and should’ve been fired when the incidents started to occur. Gruden’s emails range from Caitlyn Jenner to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. The emails were discovered by an ongoing investigation into the Washington football team, which Allen used to manage back in 2004 to 2008. Allen used his work email, which in turn, is how Gruden’s emails came to light even though it was through his personal email account. The New York Times
was the first news source to review the emails and to share them with the public. Gruden said in many emails that the NFL needs to stop hiring women, gay people and players who protested against the national anthem. Gruden complained, shamed and disrespected almost everyone he could that didn’t fit his way of life. In similar emails, Gruden told Allen that Jeff Fisher, former St. Louis Rams coach “needs to stop drafting ‘queers” while Gruden ironically coached Carl Nassib, the first openly gay active player in the NFL. This is not surprising since Gruden also criticized Michael Sam who came out as gay in 2014 while in the NFL. Gruden doesn’t stop there with his “venting” sessions with Allen; the ex Raiders coach then called Goodell a f*ggot and a “clueless anti-football pussy.” My take: Gruden did not say his opinion of Goodell to his face, so who’s really the pussy? Not only is Gruden homophobic and sexist, but he is a racist too. Another racist white man living in his privileged, self absorbed world, with his once 100 million dollar coaching contract. DeMaurice Smith, the NFL players association executive director, worked with Gruden for over ten years. Working on “Monday Night Football” together, Gruden refers to Smith as “Dumboriss” and says the only reason why Smith is on the show
OPINION EDITOR Aaliyah Alexander MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Noé Sandoval ASST. MUNDO AZTECA EDITOR Karina Bazarte ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Ryan Hardison ASST. ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR Cristina Lombardo SPORTS EDITOR Jason Freund ASST. SPORTS EDITOR Andrew Finley SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Amanda Orozco PHOTO EDITOR Noelani Sapla Screenshot from Jon Gruden’s Instagram
Where is ‘cancel culture’ when it comes to an actual person worth punishing?
is as a color analyst. Gruden also goes on about Smith’s appearance “Dumborris Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires,” he wrote in emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. All comments were never brought to light until now since Gruden only spoke this way to his favorite ranting buddy Bruce Allen. For years, Gruden has spoken about NFL officials, sports journalists and prominent figures like our former president Barack Obama. It seemed Gruden had something to say about everyone and everything in the world. The NFL promotes racial equality yet the franchise hires a
coach that is the poster child for inequality. Jon Gruden is not the only one. There are more coaches and staff that have terrible agendas who are under the table right now just as Gruden was for years. The NFL was required to force Gruden to resign. If not, the league would be condoning his behavior, parishing the NFL’s whole motto: “It Takes All of Us” referring to the on-going fight to end racism, social injustice and inequality. This stands for everyone except apparently your coaches, NFL. Daniela Ramirez is a junior studying journalism.
Anti-aging practices won’t keep you young by aaliyah alexander OPINION EDITOR
To be frank, I despise anti-aging propaganda. I didn’t know how much I detested anti-aging tactics until my Nutrition 313 professor listed off a ridiculous amount of methods some individuals use to prevent aging. The thought of people going great lengths to disguise a natural process for human beings struck a nerve in me because some individuals don’t get the privilege to see their “older” self due to untimely death at young ages. I would bet a pretty penny that a 21-year-old who died in a car crash would love to trade places with a 78-year-old in a heartbeat. Humans weren’t designed to look young their whole life. If we were, then that would be a fact of life, but it’s not. I view wrinkles and grey hair as a badge of honor. If one makes it as far as getting grey hair and wrinkles, it implies years of growth and life experience. Whoever convinced people to view growing older as an undesirable process owes an apology to the millions of people getting botox, surgery or spending insane amounts of
Graphic by Aaliyah Alexander Anti-aging propaganda shames a natural process. We need to make aging normal again.
money for anti-aging products. “Can we go back to bodies being functional and not like barbie suits,” Tiktok user Kiera Breaugh said. “Why do we have the expectation to look 20 forever? Why are we giving it so much power and chasing after it for our entire life?” I couldn’t agree more. When I look at my grandmothers and grandfathers, great-grandmothers and grandfathers, great aunts and
uncles, I don’t see “ugliness” and a failure to preserve youth, I see strength, history and beauty. Instead of wishing I can look 20 forever, I pray I get to see myself 20 years from now. Knowing one day I won’t have my young body and face prompts me to enjoy and nurture it while I have it and, at the same time, appreciate the thought of it completely changing in the future. One person I feel embodies the
message of embracing the natural process of aging is actress, singer and television host Tracee Ellis Ross. Instead of engaging in surgeries, botox and other antiaging tactics, Ross engages in natural routines that she outlined in her “five commandments for staying young”: giggle as much as possible, get your sleep, drink so much water, have as much sex as possible and love with a full and open heart. To be clear, I’m not opposed to individuals wanting to look and feel healthy as they progress in age — that should be a goal for everyone — but there is a difference between wanting to maintain health and wanting to preserve your teenage body and skin. At the end of the day, we can’t be “forever young” as Alphaville put it. In fact, you should be grateful if one day you experience a head full of grey hair and wrinkled tattoos. Until then, take notes from Ross and just drink your water, workout, love, laugh and enjoy the journey of life. Aaliyah Alexander is a junior studying journalism and international studies.
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