Not everyone rushed to defend Gruden, however. Notably, wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson — who made the Pro Bowl and won a Super Bowl under Gruden with the Buccaneers in 2001 and 2002, respectively — put his former coach on blast.
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Johnson — in a segment on his ESPN show “Keyshawn, JWill & Max” — tore into Gruden, saying the emails and their contents didn’t surprise him. Johnson also went on to detail how his outspokenness led others to make him a scapegoat and villian during his four years in Tampa Bay.
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Johnson continued criticizing Gruden, questioning his character and to what degree Tampa Bay’s 2002 Super Bowl win should be attributed to his coaching.
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“He’s always been a fraud to me. From Day 1, he’s been a used car salesman and people bought it because he inherited a championship team built by Tony Dungy and Rich McKay,” Johnson said.
“He came in there with a little bit different energy than we had with Tony and it kicked us over the top to get our world championship, which I am grateful for. But at the same time, I also saw through who he was through that journey of getting a championship.”
In his four seasons in Tampa Bay, Johnson had 298 catches for 3,828 yards and 17 touchdowns. He also posted two 1,000-plus yard receiving seasons under Gruden.
