Fans poke fun as Gruden calls his potential last game for ESPN before joining Raiders
A day after multiple sources reported that the Raiders next Tuesday plan to announce the hiring of Jon Gruden as coach, the “Monday Night Football” broadcaster called what could be his last game for ESPN before he takes the helm in Oakland.
As such – and especially with Saturday afternoon’s playoff game featuring one of the Raiders’ division rivals, the Chiefs – fans on social media and at Arrowhead Stadium were quick to poke fun at the situation, as well as Gruden’s reported 10-year deal and worth an estimated $100 million.
The #Raiders coaching staff under Jon Gruden will be the most expensive in @NFL history: Jon Gruden will make $100M over 10 years. Coordinators are getting 4 year deals, sources say. 2 years in Oakland, 2 in Las Vegas.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 5, 2018
As Gruden himself pointed out to broadcast partner Sean McDonough before the start of Saturday’s wild-card matchup between the Chiefs and Titans: “Nothing’s official yet, but these Chiefs fans have been on my back since I got here.”
McDonough had congratulated him on his new job with the Raiders and said his goodbyes.
Sean McDonough leads it out with farewell to Jon Gruden pic.twitter.com/LGBpxb53nA
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) January 6, 2018
The Titans ended up with an improbable, come-from-behind win, 22-21, after the Chiefs owned a 21-3 lead at halftime.
NFL fans on Twitter cracked plenty of jokes during Saturday’s broadcast, also noting a number of awkward exchanges between Gruden and McDonough, the latter of whom alluded to the Raiders’ hiring of Gruden throughout much of the broadcast.
This story was originally published January 6, 2018 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Fans poke fun as Gruden calls his potential last game for ESPN before joining Raiders."