Cornwell Still Could Make Ballot For NFLPA Exec Dir Election

David Cornwell Was Eliminated From Consideration In January

Athlete attorney David Cornwell, who was eliminated as a candidate for the NFLPA Exec Dir job in January, has received the written endorsement of two NFLPA player reps, but it is unclear whether he will get the required third endorsement in time to be added onto the ballot, sources said. Also unclear is when exactly the deadline is for Cornwell to get the three letters of recommendation in to the union. The NFLPA Constitution states that three player reps may nominate a candidate by writing letters of endorsement 10 days before the election. The NFLPA meetings start in Maui on March 14, but the election could be held anytime during the four-day meeting, according to different sources. Cornwell declined to comment on the selection process. The NFLPA Exec Committee voted to send former NFLPA Presidents Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong and DC-based attorney DeMaurice Smith to Hawaii to stand for election, but only five of the 11 Exec Committee members are player reps, the group that will elect the next Exec Dir. Titans C and NFLPA President Kevin Mawae, also an Exec Committee member, would vote only in case of a tie (Kaplan & Mullen, SportsBusiness Journal).

LAW IN ORDER: In DC, Mark Maske reports while some believe that Vincent has "secured enough votes to be elected," the selection process has been "marked by controversy and internal bickering, and others say there's a chance Smith could emerge with the job as a compromise candidate." Smith, speaking publicly about his candidacy for the first time, said that he was "told he was targeted in the union's search in part because he was an outsider who could bring in new ideas." Smith: "What I told the players the first time I met them was if I didn't think that I was both incredibly prepared to do this job or the right person to do this job, I wouldn't be here. ... But this opportunity was one of those things that, for the pastors that come from the other side of my family, they call their march to their profession a calling." Smith knows that if he wins the election, he "first would be judged on what sort of labor deal he negotiates." Smith said that as a result, when he became a candidate he "organized a team of approximately 15 advisers and wrote a business plan for the union entitled, 'Playbook: An Enterprise Philosophy to Maximize the Business and Political Interest of the NFLPA.'" Smith thinks that he "actually might have an advantage in the NFL's labor negotiations entering the process as an outsider." Meanwhile, Smith also praised late NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw, noting that the union had "'extremely strong and vibrant leadership' under him." However, Smith noted that there are "things the organization can do better, adding that current players have 'a moral obligation' to provide properly for retired players" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/4).