Nevada Supreme Court requires NFL to respond to Jon Gruden's petition for full-court review

Former Raiders coach Jon Gruden’s Hail Mary pass in the Nevada Supreme Court is currently being batted around in the end zone.

On Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court ordered the NFL to respond to Gruden’s request for a full-court review of the decision to force him to take his case against the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell to arbitration ultimately controlled by Goodell. While it doesn’t mean the seven judges of the Nevada Supreme Court will overturn the three-judge panel’s 2-1 ruling, it keeps Gruden’s chances alive.

Per the order, the NFL has until August 26 to respond to Gruden’s petition. Eventually, the full Nevada Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the case and (if so) whether to uphold the ruling or reverse it.

Gruden sued over the strategic leaking of emails from the Washington investigation, which apparently was aimed at forcing him out of his job. (It worked.) The emails were inappropriate, in various respects. They also were supposed to be confidential. Someone weaponized them.

The league responded to Gruden’s lawsuit by trying to force the case into arbitration, relying on a provision of the NFL’s Constitution and By-Laws regarding the Commissioner’s exclusive authority to resolve all matters involving conduct detrimental to the league. The trial court ruled in Gruden’s favor. Then, the NFL won on appeal.

Now, Gruden hopes to score the final victory in Nevada.

If he does, the NFL undoubtedly will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. Win or lose, it will continue to delay a lawsuit that was filed some 33 months ago — and that is still stuck at square one.

While few are rooting for Gruden to win, given the content of the emails he sent to former Washington executive Bruce Allen, there’s value in the case playing out in court. Someone ordered the proverbial Code Red. Someone undermined the integrity of the 2021 season by taking Gruden out six weeks into the campaign.

It should have been done before the season started or after the season ended. Someone wanted it to happen during the season. If the case isn’t litigated in open court, there’s a good chance the truth as to who forced Gruden out will never be known.