This isn't racist behavior, it's toxic male behavior. It's what brash males do in all male workplaces all over the world.
And if we expose the NFL as the Good Ol' Boys Club many have always seen it to be...
It wouldn't surprise me if the NFL players are 95% anti gay if the truth be known. And if you think for a second that black players don't trash talk white ones in private then you're mistaken IMHO. They just don't do it in emails shared by the league.
Almost have to be if the entire institution behind the NFL went homophobic after Lombardi died. (Lombardi made public he didn't give a shit, and a lot of people didn't like that!)
Gruden is a wise guy. How can everyone be OK with the CHUCKY thing and not think it calls for and over the top personality to match? It begs for him to be the wise cracker.
Gruden is a fucking idiot. None of this should surprise anyone, especially with his personality.
And this shit will come full circle eventually. Players like Randy Moss think they're safe behind a cloak of black community but that's no longer true. Somebody may dig up some white bashing or homophobic shit on him before it's over. And I wouldn't think badly of him if they did because it's his actions that he should be judged by, not some toxic male banter.
The problem is the old saying, "In Vino, Veritas" -- In Wine, Comes The Truth. We may soon be finding out that the entire existence of sports is built on rape, sexual harassment, racism, homophobia, etc.
Should he be fired for being careless with his shtick? Probably, but don't paint him as a monster for being what, in all likelihood is very prevalent in the NFL among black and whites alike.
The more I'm seeing come out, the more I think this could as existential a problem for the NFL as the current situation in the NWSL (where the male money got caught exposed that the only reason women's soccer exists is for men to jack off to in this country) -- for the very reason you're giving.
NFLPA head now thinking rampant violations of the Rooney Rule, for one.
Mike