The NFLPA is giving a second review to a request by one of the candidates for Exec Dir to gain access to contact information for the player reps voting in the election this week, an NFLPA official said. Attorney Andrew Smith told THE DAILY that the union had initially refused his requests. Smith believes he is entitled to have that info under federal law. The NFLPA official in an e-mail wrote the union understands Smith "has cited a legal statute requesting all contact information for our members, including home addresses, emails and cell phone numbers. We are looking into this matter, reviewing the law and will comply where required." Smith is one of nine candidates on the ballot this Sunday in Hawaii. Smith said, “I was advised that outside counsel for the NFLPA has deemed that information personal and confidential and that the NFLPA does not want individuals cold calling player reps.” Smith said he has sent two written requests to NFLPA President Eric Winston and General Counsel Tom DePaso for the information since he was officially nominated. “My interpretation of the applicable law allows me as a candidate to gain voters names and addresses within 30 days of the election,” Smith said. “They (NFLPA officials) have also not provided me with the statute, the case law or the name of the outside counsel who advised them all that information is private."
INSIDERS ONLY? Smith said some of the candidates -- including NFLPA Senior Dir of Player Services & Development Jason Belser, former NFLPA counsel Arthur McAfee and incumbent NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith -- have access to the player rep voter information because they are “insiders.” Other candidates include former NFLers Sean Gilbert and Robert Griffith, attorney Jim Acho, entrepreneur Rob London and former Navy Admiral John Stufflebeem. The law governing union elections is the Labor-Management Reporting & Disclosure Act, according to Smith and Stanford law professor and former NLRB Chair Bill Gould.
