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Smith elected NFLPA executive director; time to get to work on that new CBA
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The NFLPA announced late yesterday that DeMaurice Smith, a Washington D.C. attorney, has been elected NFLPA Executive Director, replacing Gene Upshaw who passed away suddenly last year.
You can read the NFLPA press release here.
Smith is trial lawyer and litigation partner for Patton Boggs, LLC.
Smith emerged as the majority choice from a group of candidates that also included former NFLPA Presidents Trace Armstrong and Troy Vincent and sports attorney David Cornwell.
Smith was considered the compromise candidate between Vincent and Armstrong who are former players. Cornwell was a late add to the list of finalists.
The generalities I've gathered from reading about the situation are that Armstrong was considered the status quo, or 'pro-Upshaw agenda' candidate while Vincent was more interested in shaking up the NFLPA establishment. A vote for either Armstrong or Vincent ran the risk of dividing the union,
According to the NFLPA press release, each of the candidates "were given the opportunity to speak directly to the 70 Player Representatives and Alternates in attendance during hour-long presentations on Saturday. They then met with Player Reps in smaller break-out sessions this morning before the official election took place in the afternoon."
The Texans player representative is Chester Pitts and the alternate is Kris Brown. I suspect both were at the meeting and participated in the voting. How was Maui, guys? Must be rough.
What does all this mean to Texans fans?
Well, it means that management (owners) can finally belly up to the bar with labor (players) and try to hammer out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Why is that important to you and me?
Well, when the owners voted to opt out of the current CBA last year, it was the first step toward a possible work stoppage, and none of us want to go there. I remember both strikes in the 1980's and it wasn't fun having games canceled or played with 'replacements.'
Except of course without the replacements, we would never have had the pleasure of meeting Eugene Seale.
Smith and the owners need to get to work and get it done.
The current CBA expires after the 2010 season, which is the infamous 'uncapped year' if nothing is resolved before March 1 of next year.
The 2011 season (and beyond) hangs in the balance. I expect they'll get a new CBA hammered out but I'm sure the negotiations will be painful and down to the wire.
Major negotiating points heading into the new CBA are the percent of total league revenue that goes to the players (currently around 60%), salary cap and rookie pay structure, free agency, and retired player benefits.
It will be interesting to see how Smith, a non-football guy, leads this effort. Nothing says the executive director has to be a football guy and it's possible that having an 'outsider' in the power position might be a good thing. We'll see.
All I care about is that they continue to play football.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
- Memo to owners and NFLPA: Don't screw this up
- NFL uncapped year will bring major changes - hopefully not chaos
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