DeMaurice Smith was seen as the long-shot candidate facing two former NFL All-Pros and a well-known sports attorney in an election for the top executive job at the largest sports union in America in 2009.
When Smith, a partner from a high-powered Washington, D.C., law firm, was elected, beating out former NFL Players Association presidents Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong, as well as go-to athlete and agent attorney David Cornwell, it shocked the industry. Smith, known as “De,” was viewed as an outsider by the insular NFL business, a compromise candidate who won the job with his charisma, smarts and a speech before the vote that wowed player leaders.
Six years later, the incumbent Smith is the known quantity, and the target for a growing number of challengers aiming to take his job.
Player representatives from 32 NFL clubs this weekend will vote on whether to re-elect Smith or replace him. When Smith was elected, the union was facing a lockout and the renegotiation of a collective-bargaining agreement. After the negotiation of the 2011 CBA, Smith faced criticism from the media, agents and others about the deal, which gave players a lower share of revenue, agents fewer terms to negotiate, and players little, if any, control over discipline handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
In the last week, a cavalcade of challengers have not only announced their candidacies but also secured the needed three written nominations from NFLPA player representatives for a spot on the ballot. By midday last Thursday, Smith and six challengers were officially on the ballot, and agents, players and the media expected that more candidates might emerge.
“There is nothing more than an influx of individuals who believe they are more qualified and better suited to lead the union than DeMaurice Smith,” said Andrew Smith, a Philadelphia sports and labor attorney who was one of the first challengers to get the needed nominations of player reps.
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DeMaurice Smith won the 2009 election as an outsider.
Photo by: GETTY IMAGES
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Other candidates with the required nominations include Michigan lawyer Jim Acho, former NFL defensive lineman Sean Gilbert, former NFL safety Robert Griffith and former NFLPA counsel Arthur McAfee. Acho, McAfee and Griffith all secured nominations last Wednesday, a day before the midnight March 5 deadline to qualify for the ballot.
“It is a scream from the players that they want a change,” said John Stufflebeem, a former Navy admiral and NFL punter, who also qualified for the election.
Smith has not commented and continued to decline to comment on the election process.
Still, Stufflebeem said, as the incumbent, Smith had the advantage. “I think this is De’s election to lose,” he said. “I don’t think its a foregone conclusion De will be unseated.”
It is important to note that a single player rep can nominate multiple candidates and that no player rep is obligated to vote for the candidate or candidates he nominated. Additionally, while some saw the multiple candidates as a repudiation of Smith, others said it could help him stay in office.
“It gets better for DeMaurice Smith the more people that run,” said one agent, who did not want to be publicly identified discussing union politics. “It will split the non-DeMaurice vote. Forget DeMaurice Smith, anybody who is running as the incumbent wants multiple opponents.”
The election process
The big difference in the NFLPA election this year and the election that got DeMaurice Smith the job in 2009 is the nominating process. In 2008, after longtime NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw died unexpectedly, the union hired Chicago-based executive search firm Reilly Partners to oversee the process to replace him.
The NFLPA executive director job is a coveted position. Upshaw, who ran the union for 25 years, was making $6 million a year before he died, and Smith’s annual salary is about $3 million a year. But more than the money, the executive director will wield power, as well as instant fame, from running the union representing the athletes in the most popular sport in America.
THE CHALLENGERS
These were the candidates on the ballot opposing NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith as of midday last Thursday. Two additional candidates, Rob London and Jason Belser, qualified for the ballot before the Thursday midnight deadline, but after this issue had gone to press.
JIM ACHO
Age: 44
College: University of Saint Francis; Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School
Occupation: Senior attorney, Cummings, McClorey, Davis & Acho
Acho’s platform is based on improving long-term health care benefits. He was among the creators of the “88 Plan,” which assists retired players suffering from dementia.
SEAN GILBERT
Age: 44
College: University of Pittsburgh
NFL player: 1992-2003
In Gilbert’s book, “The $29 Million ‘Tip,’” Gilbert outlines his concerns with the labor agreement between the league and the players. He states the collective-bargaining agreement at the end of the 2011 lockout will cost the players a cumulative $10 billion by the time the CBA has expired.
ROBERT GRIFFITH
Age: 44
College: San Diego State University
NFL player: 1994-2006
Occupation: President and CEO, Matador Enterprises
He served as an executive committee member of the NFLPA for eight years.
ARTHUR McAFEE
Age: NA
College: Morehouse College; J.D., Howard University School of Law
Occupation: Partner, The McAfee Group. Was NFLPA staff counsel 1995-2012; agent, IMG, 1993-95.
He contends that he can maximize the rest of the collective-bargaining agreement, which runs through 2020. While with the NFLPA, he participated in the negotiation of the 2011 CBA and was involved with the 1995-2006 CBA extensions.
ANDREW SMITH
Age: NA
College: Seton Hall University; J.D., Widener University School of Law
Occupation: Founder and owner, Smithbridge LLP
As a sports and labor attorney, Smith has represented 58 pro athletes, including NFL players, in legal matters. He obtained an $8.6 million verdict against SunTrust Bank on behalf of five professional athletes.
Age: 62
College: U.S. Naval Academy
NFL player: 1975-79
Occupation: Founder, The NJS Group. Served in U.S. Navy 1969-2008.
His platform includes improving the relationship between the NFLPA and NFL leaders and changing the culture of the NFLPA staff to better serve the needs of players.
NA: Not available
Sources: Candidates, SportsBusiness Journal research
After Upshaw’s death in August 2008, hundreds of candidates applied for the job. The NFLPA’s executive committee, with the help of Reilly Partners, narrowed the candidates down to three: Vincent, Armstrong and Smith. Cornwell had been rejected during the search committee process, but got on the ballot by securing written nominations from three player representatives. Player leaders at the time said they wanted to narrow down the candidates to a reasonable number to present to the player representatives.
This year, with no filter of an executive search firm or an executive committee to keep a lid on the number of candidates, the field is much broader.
Despite the new nominating process, the template of how the candidates will campaign is set to be the same as it was in 2009.
Candidates will be able to present their platforms to all of the players in Maui on Saturday. In 2009, each of the four candidates gave a speech to all the player reps and alternate player reps for an hour each. (Stufflebeem said NFLPA President Eric Winston informed him that it was possible that candidates would have an hour, but possibly 45 minutes or less, to present. The limit would depend on the number of candidates up for election.)
After the presentations, Chicago-based Hillard Heintze Strategic Security Advisors is expected to give the players a presentation of extensive background checks on the candidates. Candidates both in 2009 and this year agreed to allow the security firm to conduct the checks, which include investigation of their private lives. Among the factors explored are whether they have declared bankruptcy, been sued or had criminal charges filed against them.
On Sunday, candidates will meet with smaller groups of players in breakout sessions. The breakout sessions are intended to give players a chance to ask questions of the candidates and interact with them in a smaller group setting. The candidates may also have an opportunity to give a concluding statement Sunday before the vote.
It takes a majority, or 17 of the 32 player reps, to elect a candidate. If a candidate does not get the majority on the first vote, candidates with the fewest votes will be eliminated and a runoff or runoffs between the remaining candidates will determine the winner.
Challengers line up
The NFLPA has, since the 1980s, had a mechanism in its constitution in which the executive director must stand for re-election every three years. It was put in place for administrative reasons, so that Upshaw would have the authority to do more things such as write checks as an elected officer of the union. It was not intended to provide players with a way to take a vote of confidence on the executive director. For years, player reps at the annual meeting voted unanimously to re-elect Upshaw without comment or debate.
But that mechanism became an issue after Gilbert declared his candidacy by writing a book harshly critical of Smith’s negotiation of the CBA in 2011. Gilbert maintains that Smith will have cost the players $10 billion over the 10-year life of the deal.
Gilbert publicly declared his candidacy more than a year ago. Since then, he has traveled the country and met with more than 100 agents and 500 players, Gilbert said in January.
Other challengers have arrived on the scene more recently, and what has surprised some in the industry is not the number who have declared themselves candidates but rather the number that were able to secure the needed three nominations.
Acho was the first candidate to declare after Gilbert, and got his nominations last week. In January, he said that he spoke to about 170 players and that the majority of them were happy with the job that Smith was doing.
“When we first spoke in January, I felt that DeMaurice would be re-elected quite easily,” he said. His opinion changed, however, after speaking with not only more players at large but also more team reps.
“It is clear many players are not happy with the direction De Smith has taken them, that they feel they were short-changed in the last CBA and that the lack of transparency in the NFLPA — even to their own reps — is a concern to them,” Acho said.
Democracy and unity
Unions get their power from the unity of their membership. The fact that player reps have nominated multiple candidates to potentially replace the sitting executive director has some questioning how strong the NFLPA will be going forward.
Agents had divergent opinions on who would be elected. Some said that, as the incumbent, DeMaurice Smith has the edge. Gilbert has strong support among some agents. Other agents want a new start.
Most agents declined to speak on the record, for fear that what they say could be used against them by whoever is elected. The NFLPA regulates agents and, through its certification process, decides who can represent players in contract talks with NFL clubs.
But Peter Schaffer said that what is happening now is a good thing for the union.
“In a democracy, there is nothing better than open debate,” said Schaffer, who has been an agent since 1989. “Mr. Gilbert, he was the first person to do it. He should be applauded for creating open debate. But that, in and of itself, is not enough to get you elected.”
Schaffer said the NFLPA will emerge stronger, not weaker, from the election, no matter the victor. “Whoever is elected, the players and the agents will steadfastly support him,” he said. “If De Smith, who has six years of track record wins, we will support him.”
