Former NFLer Sean Gilbert may have lost the election for NFLPA Exec Dir, but union officials last week said that they "would look into whether his plan to bring a collusion case against the NFL is viable," according to Liz Mullen of SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. NFLPA President Eric Winston said, "We will obviously look at this." Winston added that NFLPA Outside Counsel Jeffrey Kessler, who was at the NFLPA meetings where Gilbert proposed bringing the case as part of his campaign for the union’s top job, "would review the argument." NFLPA Exec Dir DeMaurice Smith also indicated the union’s attorneys "would review Gilbert’s argument." Smith: “We will take a look at anything that could potentially benefit the players." Mullen notes Gilbert ran for the position for more than a year "on a platform of overturning the CBA by using the collusion case as leverage against the owners, as well as using the incentive of agreeing to expand the regular season from 16 to 18 games." He believed that both "would serve as a means for NFL players to reopen" the '11 NFL CBA and "get a better deal for the players" (SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL, 3/23 issue).
UNDISPUTED CHAMP? In Boston, Ben Volin cites multiple candidates as saying that they were "never given access to the union’s finances before the vote." They added that their "only contact throughout the process with the player reps was a 40-minute presentation and smaller break-out sessions in Hawaii, NFLPA executive committee members sat in on their break-out sessions (presumably to report back to Smith), and strict security was enforced to prevent the candidates from having any contact with player reps the entire weekend." Multiple sources said that the "'unanimous' victory wasn’t really unanimous -- once it was clear that Smith would win the election, player reps were encouraged to vote for Smith to make it a 'unanimous' vote and give the appearance of a unified union." The union never "officially informed the eight challengers of the results." Volin: "The union would be wise to clean up and improve its election process to be taken more seriously. There should be stricter requirements to get onto the ballot, and the candidates should be given more of a fair shot to speak with the voters and let their platforms be heard" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/23).
