Pitched under the bus by selective leaks of emails that forced him to make an in-season coaching change, Raiders owner Mark Davis is breaking ranks.
Asked on Wednesday whether the NFL should release a written report of the Washington Football Team workplace misconduct investigation, Davis said (via Albert Breer of SI.com), “Probably. Yeah, I think so.”
Davis becomes the first owner to join the call of transparency. That will serve only to legitimize efforts by media, fans, and members of Congress to continue to pursue the information.
Davis also expressed concern over the timing of the decision to make an issue out of emails sent by former Raiders coach Jon Gruden before he returned to work for the team in early 2018. Davis said the the league had the emails for a “couple months” but failed to tell the team about them.
As PFT has reported, the league knew about the Gruden emails no later than June 2021. If the league had moved promptly to inform the Raiders (and if Davis would have instigated a coaching change without emails being leaked), Davis could have hired a coach before the starting of training camp.
The fact that the Raiders are 2-0 without Gruden doesn’t matter. The Raiders shouldn’t have been required to endure an in-season coaching change. Davis is right to be upset, and it’s courageous of him to take a position that will be unpopular with his business partners.