This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
This article was written by WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
Former Washington football team coach Jay Gruden has sold his Loudoun County house – and the buyer is an entity with ties to new Commanders quarterback Carson Wentz.
The house, described on real estate websites as “a magnificent French-Provincial estate,” went on the market in late May, about 2½ years after Gruden was fired by the NFL team. It was purchased for $3,675,000 on July 5 by an entity called MCCrewVA LLC.
According to Virginia State Corporation Commission records, MCCrewVA was formed on March 29 – or about two weeks after the Commanders officially obtained Wentz in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts.
MCCrewVA LLC lists an address in Sewickley, Penn., that is the same address as that of the Carson Wentz AO1 Foundation. According to its website, the foundation was launched in July 2017 with the mission of “uplifting individuals and communities around the world by demonstrating God’s love for His people.”
“AO1” references a tattoo Wentz has on the underside of his right wrist, which stands for “Audience of One,” the website says. The foundation operates an outdoor ministry, a sports complex in Haiti and food distribution projects in Philadelphia and Indianapolis, the two cities in which Wentz played in the NFL before joining the Commanders.
Wentz will earn just over $28 million this season and is under contract with the Commanders for two years after that, although the contract is not guaranteed beyond this year. Wentz and his wife, Madison, have two children.
InsideNoVa emails seeking comment about the purchase from the Realtors who were involved as well as from the AO1 Foundation were not returned.
Gruden and his wife, Cheryl, bought the house in the Creighton Farms gated community off U.S. 15 in June 2014, shortly after Gruden was named coach of the Washington NFL team. The Grudens paid $2.5 million for the house, which at the time was new. Gruden was fired by the team in October 2019 after an 0-5 start to that season.
The sales price for the house was slightly below the original list price of $3,749,990.
The Creighton Farms community includes a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and has in the past been home to several other Washington football players, including quarterback Robert Griffin III and tight end Jordan Reed.
According to the real estate listing, the 7,280-square-foot home sold by the Grudens includes:
- A gourmet kitchen with a six-burner gas stove and griddle, two sub-zero fridges, two dishwashers and a 10-foot marble-top island with seating.
- Two modern, main level home offices.
- A main level primary bedroom with his-and-hers closets with custom-built shelving, a spa-bath with a steam shower and a stand-alone soaking tub
- A lower level rec room and game room with a wet bar, a wine tasting room and wine cellar and a home gym.
- A backyard pool with a swim spa, hot tub and covered pavilion.
Photos from Jay Gruden’s tenure with the Washington football team are visible in photos of the Creighton Farms home on real estate websites.
Photos of the home on real estate sites show some of Gruden’s memorabilia from his time in Washington, including a Redskins-themed foosball table and photos of Gruden with Griffin and other players.
Gruden spent the 2020 season as the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars but he and the rest of the coaching staff was let go at the end of that season after the team finished 1-15. According to a report Thursday in The Spun, a Sports Illustrated website, Gruden has been hired as a consultant by the Los Angeles Rams.
