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Creighton Miller (1956-68)
Although he didn’t hold the title of executive director, Miller was the first person to serve in the top executive position at the NFL Players Association. He founded the NFLPA as a trade association in 1956 and served as general counsel.
Miller was a star running back at Notre Dame and helped lead the Fighting Irish to a national championship in 1943. He was drafted but could not play in the NFL for health reasons. He went to Yale Law School and was the lawyer for the Cleveland Browns before he left that role to start the NFLPA. Browns players Dante Lavelli, Abe Gibron and George Ratterman urged him to do so to give players an outlet to air grievances with owners.
Miller resigned in early 1968 after player representatives voted for the NFLPA to become a union. Miller opposed the move and favored remaining a trade organization.
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John Gordy (1969)
When players voted in 1968 to become a union, it was Gordy who negotiated the first collective-bargaining agreement that year in his role as player president. The deal ended a 12-day work stoppage sparked by players seeking improvements in the pension and other benefits.
Gordy, who played offensive guard for the Detroit Lions for 11 years, was elevated to become the NFLPA’s first executive director in 1969. He led the union at a time when the NFL and AFL were merging. The two players associations, the NFLPA and the AFLPA, merged in 1970. He only remained in the executive director position for about a year before leaving to go into private business, and the union continued without an executive director until 1971.
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Ed Garvey (1971-83)
Garvey led the merged NFLPA as executive director through two strikes — in 1974 and 1982 — and filed a number of antitrust cases against the league. He was in favor of the players getting a percentage of all gross league revenue, a concept that partially served as a model for today’s salary caps.
An attorney, Garvey served as outside counsel prior to being elected executive director. After he left the NFLPA, he was active in politics in his native Wisconsin, serving in the Wisconsin Department of Justice and running for both U.S. senator and governor, albeit unsuccessfully.
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Gene Upshaw (1983-2008)
Upshaw was active in union politics during his Hall of Fame career playing guard on the Oakland Raiders for 15 years. He then served as the union’s executive director for 25 years.
After striking as a player and executive director, Upshaw decertified the union in 1989 to pursue an antitrust lawsuit. The union won that lawsuit, which led to a new collective-bargaining agreement and 17 years of labor peace. Upshaw died from cancer in 2008, months after owners opted out of the CBA, which they contended gave too large a share of revenue to the players.
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Richard Berthelsen (2008-09)
Berthelsen, Upshaw’s second in command at the union, served as interim executive director following Upshaw’s death. He led the NFLPA through a difficult period and a controversial election for the next executive director. Berthelsen retired from the NFLPA as general counsel in 2012 after serving there for 40 years.
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DeMaurice Smith (2009-present)
A former assistant U.S. Attorney, Smith beat three contenders for the job left vacant when Upshaw died. Smith led the union through its first real lockout by ownership in March 2011. The NFL owners sought and received economic concessions from the players, including a reduction in the players’ share of revenue and a rookie wage scale. The players, under Smith’s leadership, received additional funding for retired players, and health and quality-of-life issues including more days off. Smith is now leading negotiations for a new CBA.
— Compiled by Liz Mullen
