DeMaurice Smith and look forward to working with him and the NFLPA board to ensure the continued health and growth of our game.” Smith, who’s regarded widely as a compromise choice since former NFL players Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong were expected to split the voting, has his work cut out for him with labor unrest after NFL owners opted out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Smith succeeds the late Executive Director Gene Upshaw, beating out Troy Vincent, Trace Armstrong, and David Cornwell. We just received an e-mail two minutes ago from the NFLPA media relations department confirming that Smith has been named the new Executive Director and that a press release will be issued soon. Don Banks of SI.com writes that Smith, a Washington attorney who’s a partner at Patton Boggs, was elected on the first ballot.
Moments ago, the NFL Players Association elected attorney DeMaurice Smith as its new Executive Director following an intense search process that culminated with a final vote conducted by player representatives in Hawaii, Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Daily reports. Mullen cited player representatives for her report. An official announcement is forthcoming.
