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 Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:19 pm
Sunday March, 15th.
The voting began for the successor to the late Gene Upshaw. It seems that the likely candidate is going to be former Philadelphia Eagle Troy Vincent. As were reports that the panel seemed to really find his interview interesting along with his work with the Players Union and the fact that he has a more unique perspective being a former player and former Union President.
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:31 pm
Attorney Smith named Upshaw's successor as NFLPA executive director
Associated Press
WAILEA, Hawaii -- DeMaurice Smith is the new executive director of the NFL Players Association, succeeding the late Gene Upshaw.
Smith was elected Sunday as the union's fourth leader in its 41-year history and succeeds Upshaw, who died in August. Smith, an NFL outsider, has served as an attorney in Washington.
"Let's get to work," Smith told the membership when the vote was announced.
Smith was elected by a vote held behind closed doors at the Fairmont Kea Lani resort, where the union has been meeting. The 32 player representatives heard from the four candidates Saturday and once again Sunday, with Smith, Troy Vincent, Trace Armstrong and David Cornwell providing their closing arguments before the voting began by secret ballot.
The reps emerged with their selection in 90 minutes.
Smith is an NFL outsider who has no labor law experience, but he has ties to President Barack Obama and worked with new U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Smith is a trial lawyer and partner at the influential Washington-based Patton Boggs and chair of the firm's government investigations and white collar practice group. He has represented Fortune 500 companies in numerous cases.
A native Washingtonian, Smith earned his law degree at Virginia in 1989, and he has been a frequent guest commentator on many cable television news programs.
Despite his lack of familiarity to NFL players, Smith beat out three strong contenders: former NFLPA presidents Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong and sports attorney David Cornwell, who re-emerged as a candidate after receiving the necessary written support of three player reps.
Smith is now faced with uniting the ranks as the NFLPA looks ahead to numerous challenges following 25 years under Upshaw.
In the coming months, the new director will enter talks with the NFL after owners opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement last year. If a new deal isn't struck within two years, there is a chance for a work stoppage affecting the 2011 season, threaten the NFL's long history of labor peace, which has allowed it to flourish for much of the past two decades.
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Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:39 pm
This is a suprise after early reports show that many were swinging towards electing Troy Vincent. One thing I do not get is why they would vote on someone who has almost ZERO NFL Labor Law let a lone Labor Law in general and has almost no connection to any of the players or NFL industry to be the NFLPA Executive Director.
Troy Vincent has the experience that should be REQUIRED to even be able to be considered for the job. He has the experience on boths sides as a player and a rep along with experience dealing with owners and the NFL board of directors. He also had the air about him of someone you could trust that would be able to mentor. He is able to take into account both sides of the isle and make an informed decision instead of just taking sides.
Well we can all hope that this guy learns quick and has no bias and looks at the whole picture as well as be tough on both the owners and players instead of being used like Upshaw was in the last year of his tenure.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 3:38 pm
DeMaurice Smith seems like a good choice. It seems like the players like him, and he will try to get the latest upcoming perils worked out. He is meeting with Goodell as well.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 7:24 pm
Dude-LAP DeMaurice Smith seems like a good choice. It seems like the players like him, and he will try to get the latest upcoming perils worked out. He is meeting with Goodell as well. The whole thing I am worried about here is that the players that keep coming in do not understand the phrase fiscal responsibility. They go out and blow there money and then have to keep asking for bigger and bigger contracts. Plus they are constantly becoming more and more greedier. So like I was trying to say, with the players becoming greedier instead of more responsible they could very well be the real cause of a strike in the NFL. While I do understand that they do have a right to get paid, they are already grossly overpaid.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 10:50 pm
vegito61283 Dude-LAP DeMaurice Smith seems like a good choice. It seems like the players like him, and he will try to get the latest upcoming perils worked out. He is meeting with Goodell as well. The whole thing I am worried about here is that the players that keep coming in do not understand the phrase fiscal responsibility. They go out and blow there money and then have to keep asking for bigger and bigger contracts. Plus they are constantly becoming more and more greedier. So like I was trying to say, with the players becoming greedier instead of more responsible they could very well be the real cause of a strike in the NFL. While I do understand that they do have a right to get paid, they are already grossly overpaid. Yep, athletes these days are getting over-payed way too much. ...But the worst is in the NFL. In the NFL Draft, unproven rookies can instantly make more than effective veterans with legacies. The NBA has a great rookie policy, where you get paid among the lowest in the league, and you have to build your way up to get a top tier salary. The franchise tag guarantees some borderline players and disgruntled athletes a much higher salary, to be paid tops at their position. Players are constantly trying to re-do their contract after a few years of signing a long term deal, because they over-perform is a little. Yet they complain and beg to keep their contracts, if they do not reach expectations. A lot of money has to be guaranteed, and some athletes that have off the field issues and leave the team/league get to keep it. Also, you have agents like Drew Rosenhaus killing morality by keeping money always as the primary goal. I can go on and on...but at least the NFL has a salary cap, to keep the competition rounded.
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Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 11:16 pm
Dude-LAP vegito61283 Dude-LAP DeMaurice Smith seems like a good choice. It seems like the players like him, and he will try to get the latest upcoming perils worked out. He is meeting with Goodell as well. The whole thing I am worried about here is that the players that keep coming in do not understand the phrase fiscal responsibility. They go out and blow there money and then have to keep asking for bigger and bigger contracts. Plus they are constantly becoming more and more greedier. So like I was trying to say, with the players becoming greedier instead of more responsible they could very well be the real cause of a strike in the NFL. While I do understand that they do have a right to get paid, they are already grossly overpaid. Yep, athletes these days are getting over-payed way too much. ...But the worst is in the NFL. In the NFL Draft, unproven rookies can instantly make more than effective veterans with legacies. The NBA has a great rookie policy, where you get paid among the lowest in the league, and you have to build your way up to get a top tier salary. The franchise tag guarantees some borderline players and disgruntled athletes a much higher salary, to be paid tops at their position. Players are constantly trying to re-do their contract after a few years of signing a long term deal, because they over-perform is a little. Yet they complain and beg to keep their contracts, if they do not reach expectations. A lot of money has to be guaranteed, and some athletes that have off the field issues and leave the team/league get to keep it. Also, you have agents like Drew Rosenhaus killing morality by keeping money always as the primary goal. I can go on and on...but at least the NFL has a salary cap, to keep the competition rounded.
You know what, its not even overpaid. The players themselves over value their worth. They're entertainers, nothing more. Sure they do dangerous stuff but a lot of people have a dangerous line of work & don't get paid 1/1,000,000th what they get paid. In this day & age of economic crisis, they should be glad they're getting paid at all.
Death to Drew Rosenhaus! twisted
And the morality of the World needs to check itself. Sports is just a good way to look at how the World itself is sucking right now
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 7:21 am
sure, I am not the most talented, but I do have FB experience and I would not care for the millions. Put me back there just to catch the ball and return it or to make a tackle. All I would ask is for probably around 200k a year plus taxes, agent fees in the contract. Just as long as I got the 200k in the end. That is all I would want.
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Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2009 9:22 pm
vegito61283 sure, I am not the most talented, but I do have FB experience and I would not care for the millions. Put me back there just to catch the ball and return it or to make a tackle. All I would ask is for probably around 200k a year plus taxes, agent fees in the contract. Just as long as I got the 200k in the end. That is all I would want. Exactly. Football players in the NFL have no idea that they have the best job in the entire World. It would be such a thrill to be in uniform and experience a fierce game. It's fun and it's great. They're entertainers and athletes, that we Americans love to watch and follow. So it's fine to get paid more than the average person, because of work, preparation, and popularity. It's alright to get paid a few million dollars a year. But fat guys who were born huge don't deserve a 9-digit contract (Albert Haynesworth). The reason they want so much money is because they chose to live such a high and expensive lifestyle.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 7:30 pm
Dude-LAP vegito61283 sure, I am not the most talented, but I do have FB experience and I would not care for the millions. Put me back there just to catch the ball and return it or to make a tackle. All I would ask is for probably around 200k a year plus taxes, agent fees in the contract. Just as long as I got the 200k in the end. That is all I would want. Exactly. Football players in the NFL have no idea that they have the best job in the entire World. It would be such a thrill to be in uniform and experience a fierce game. It's fun and it's great. They're entertainers and athletes, that we Americans love to watch and follow. So it's fine to get paid more than the average person, because of work, preparation, and popularity. It's alright to get paid a few million dollars a year. But fat guys who were born huge don't deserve a 9-digit contract (Albert Haynesworth). The reason they want so much money is because they chose to live such a high and expensive lifestyle. That is exactly it. I could care less about the 9 digit. I could care less about making a million. Let me play, make sure I will be set and I will take care of the rest. I dont want a new car every year, I dont want a million dollar house, dont care about all the jewelry. I just care that my wife and child are cared for and that my child will get the best education she can get. See they dont realize one thing. You dont need money and posessions to live in the lap of luxuary.
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Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 11:05 pm
vegito61283 Dude-LAP vegito61283 sure, I am not the most talented, but I do have FB experience and I would not care for the millions. Put me back there just to catch the ball and return it or to make a tackle. All I would ask is for probably around 200k a year plus taxes, agent fees in the contract. Just as long as I got the 200k in the end. That is all I would want. Exactly. Football players in the NFL have no idea that they have the best job in the entire World. It would be such a thrill to be in uniform and experience a fierce game. It's fun and it's great. They're entertainers and athletes, that we Americans love to watch and follow. So it's fine to get paid more than the average person, because of work, preparation, and popularity. It's alright to get paid a few million dollars a year. But fat guys who were born huge don't deserve a 9-digit contract (Albert Haynesworth). The reason they want so much money is because they chose to live such a high and expensive lifestyle. That is exactly it. I could care less about the 9 digit. I could care less about making a million. Let me play, make sure I will be set and I will take care of the rest. I dont want a new car every year, I dont want a million dollar house, dont care about all the jewelry. I just care that my wife and child are cared for and that my child will get the best education she can get. See they dont realize one thing. You dont need money and posessions to live in the lap of luxuary. As an athlete, one should be able to make money both in and outside of football. If you are popular, you can make a whole lot of money by starting a recognizable business, or by marketing other products. Living a high life is awesome, but nobody should be making an eight digit salary each year.
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Reply
