The Larely Beagle – The Community Newspaper of Larely, California

Baltimore, MD – Jon Gruden, the newest addition to the “Monday Night Football” team of announcers, found himself making his very first announcer related apology today after he accidentally applied the “he’s so well spoken” compliment to a white player.

The incident occurred during the third quarter of Monday night’s Jets vs Ravens game after Jets’ rookie kicker Parker Douglass successfully converted a 20 yd field goal attempt. After the ball sailed through the uprights, Gruden told fellow announcers Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski that he had a chance to talk with Douglass before the game and the two things about him that stuck out the most were how much respect Douglass had for the history of the NFL and also how well spoken he was.

Though Gruden didn’t realize his mistake at the time, the comment was met with a resounding silence from Tirico and Jaworski, as they both knew Gruden had stepped over the line.

At a special press conference held today, a very contrite Gruden stood before reporters and said, “I’m extremely sorry and embarrassed that this happened. I’m not trying to make excuses here, but I truly believe it was an error caused by inexperience. One of the first things they teach you in announcer training is that that particular compliment is reserved for the African American players only. I just had a lapse of memory, which resulted in the error. I’m sorry, and I can promise you that it won’t happen again.”

Gruden also told reporters that he would personally apologize to Douglass, a Nebraska native who played college football for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Douglass, who was unaware of the incident until a reporter brought it to his attention on Tuesday afternoon, said he didn’t feel that Gruden owed him an apology. “He’s the new guy, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned during training camp it’s that new guys make mistakes and need to be cut some slack. He knows he screwed up, and I’m sure no one feels worse about it than him. But the important part is that he makes the necessary adjustments to keep it from happening again.”

Fellow announcer Mike Tirico also came to Gruden’s defense after the incident, saying, “Do I wish he would have applied that compliment to a different Jets rookie like Shonn Greene or Jamaal Westerman? Yes I do. But mistakes are just part of the growing process. I trust next week we’ll see him seamlessly apply that same compliment to [Minnesota Vikings Rookie] Percy Harvin.”

ESPN is also investigating the matter, but it appears as though disciplinary action against Gruden is unlikely.