"Monday Night Football Showdown: A Clash of Titans!"

 One 'Monday Night Football' call ignited the catastrophic Jon Gruden-Roger Goodell feud.

In December 2011, Jon Gruden was watching from the "Monday Night Football" commentary booth as Atlanta linebacker Curtis Lofton struck New Orleans receiver Marques Colston with a helmet-to-helmet hit.

When the play was called for unnecessary roughness, Gruden disagreed with the ruling. 
To a national television audience, Gruden added, "I just don't understand how games are being officiated." 

The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, led the league callout to the Park Avenue offices, where Gruden was invited for a lesson on player safety. 

In an interview with ESPN, Gruden alleged that Goodell was treating him like a "stooge" who had "never coached in the league, like I don't study football day in and day out... like I didn't know a damn thing about player safety."

Speaking to the media during the NFL Owners Meetings is Roger Goodell. AP The Raiders had already ingrained in Gruden a "hate the NFL office" mentality when he was hired as their head coach for the first time by then-owner Al Davis in 1998, eight years before Goodell took over.

As he was sure commissioner Pete Rozelle thwarted a 1983 deal before the draft that would've sent John Elway to Las Vegas, Davis sued the league for antitrust laws on the grounds that he believed the officials shown favoritism.

Gruden had his own unpleasant interactions with Goodell as he gained experience as the Raiders' head coach. 

Reporter queries are answered by Roger Goodell.

For instance, the Raiders were penalized by the NFL in 2020 with a $500,000 punishment for violating COVID-19, as well as a $150,000 fine for Gruden personally, and the team lost a sixth-round draft pick as a result. 

The largest of all, though, is that Gruden allegedly thinks Goodell shares some of the blame for the email leak controversy that led to his forced resignation as head coach of the Raiders in October 2021. 

Snyder's legal team reportedly gathered damaging emails and texts from top league administrators while beginning an investigation into Commander's owner Dan Snyder for poisonous working culture within the business. 

Dan Snyder strikes a snapshot during an occasion. AP

When the inquiry was over, the league received an estimated 650,000 Commanders emails, including Gruden's now-famous conversation with Bruce Allen, the general manager of Washington, from ten years earlier in which he used a racist cliche to describe NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith.

According to Gruden and other league sources, Goodell and Snyder both participated in disclosing the emails in an effort to defend the Commanders boss and eliminate a rival league player.

Before the New England Patriots take on Washington, Dan Snyder watches. Getty Pictures
Why would these individuals seek to locate me? Gruden reportedly stated, according to ESPN.

The cause, according to Gruden, was his covert campaign to "f-k Roger Goodell." By the way, I'm not the only one. I had a sneaking suspicion that Goodell had me by the balls.