The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced on Thursday that former head coach Jon Gruden will be reinstated to the team's Ring of Honor.
"Jon Gruden was initially inducted into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor based on his many accomplishments during his seven seasons as our head coach and he remains a significant figure in the history of our franchise," the team said in a statement. "Upon further reflection, we have decided to reinstate him into the Buccaneers Ring of Honor."
Gruden was removed from the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor in Oct. 2021 after the Wall Street Journal and New York Times published news articles that detailed the coach's use of of racist, homophobic and misogynistic terms in emails dating back to 2010. Gruden resigned from his role as Las Vegas Raiders head coach upon the release of those reports midway through the 2021 season.
Gruden, who was acquired by Tampa Bay in a rare coach trade during the 2002 offseason, led the Buccaneers to their first-ever Super Bowl victory in his debut season with the club. Coaching the Bucs from 2002-2008, Gruden accumulated a 57-55 regular-season record across his seven seasons and reached the playoffs three times.
He was inducted into the Buccaneers' Ring of Honor in 2017.