Candidates team up to topple head of NFL players union
Eight challengers will try to replace DeMaurice Smith as he seeks a third term as NFL Players Association executive director on the heels of a season marked by bitter battles with the league over personal conduct matters and continued grumblings in some corners over revenue sharing.
The platforms vary, but those gunning for Smith's job are united in the quest to capitalize on whatever dissension exists within union leadership — and some are preparing to band together if that's what it takes to push Smith out.
"It would seem to me that I've got a choice (as a player representative)," one candidate, retired Navy officer John Stufflebeem, told Paste BN Sports this week. "I've got De Smith and I stick with him for better or worse, or maybe I try to figure out are there one, two or even three of these guys who all together could be the new brain trust of our organization?"
Another candidate, Michigan attorney Jim Acho, said he, Stufflebeem and Philadelphia attorney Andrew Smith have been working collaboratively and "have agreed that the three of us are sort of going to stick together. If I were to get in, I would bring them in and vice versa."
Stufflebeem also acknowledged his friendship with Jason Belser, the union's senior director of player affairs and development, who was a late addition to the ballot and figures to have some pull when the 32 player representatives vote next weekend in Maui.
Other challengers who received the three required nominations from voting reps before Thursday night's deadline were retired NFL players Sean Gilbert and Robert Griffith; former NFLPA counsel Arthur McAfee; and sports adviser Rob London.
Each rep can nominate as many candidates as he wants, meaning the challengers' nominations could be coming from a small minority. Regardless, the election has the makings of a gang approach against Smith, who has held the post since 2009 and ran unopposed for a second term three years later.
In 2012, the players were less than a year removed from a lockout and had little to judge in terms of returns from the new collective bargaining agreement. Three years later, scrutiny of the financial aspects of that labor deal — even with the salary cap at a record $143.28 million — combined with the fame, power and money of the position have drawn out challengers in droves.
Only Gilbert, who began campaigning over a year ago, has openly stated he intends to seek termination of the CBA, via collusion claims he plans to detail at the meeting. Gilbert also intends to dangle an 18-game season to lure owners back to the bargaining table, as does Acho, whose platform cornerstone is long-term health benefits.
Stufflebeem and Andrew Smith are campaigning on, among other things, a commitment to restoring a close working relationship with the league and Commissioner Roger Goodell as DeMaurice Smith's predecessor, the late Gene Upshaw, had with Paul Tagliabue.
"You have to focus in on where the fight should start and where it should end," Andrew Smith said.
Griffith, McAfee and London all secured the necessary nominations in the past couple days and have not released platforms publicly.
DeMaurice Smith has key supporters within leadership, including Winston and members of the executive committee, which may choose to recommend a candidate at next weekend's meetings. But the criticism Smith has faced from some reps behind the scenes has become increasingly public, along with accusations about a lack of financial transparency.
In a letter to reps last week, Winston countered that the union has had clean audits since at least 2007. The board approves the budget line-by-line at the annual rep meeting.
DeMaurice Smith, a respected trial lawyer, has presided over four key defeats of Goodell in arbitration and federal court: twice in the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal, and once each in the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson matters in recent months.
Still, Stufflebeem says he knows of "people inside the NFLPA" who want change. That likely includes Belser, with whom Stufflebeem said he has compared notes for years "and when I get to Maui, I'm not going to be shy to say (Belser) is a guy that not only could I team up with, but I would want to."
Each qualifying candidate will have the opportunity to present his platform. There also will be smaller group Q&A sessions. If nobody receives 17 votes on the first ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and another vote is taken until a winner is determined.
With alliances already forming, a victory for one challenger may be a victory for several, which could alter the dynamics as the process plays out.
"I suppose you can't discount anything that could happen," Stufflebeem said. "One of the questions I have to ask myself is, 'What is most important?'
" 'Is it most important that I win? Or is it most important that De Smith be changed out?' In my view, it is more important that De Smith is changed out than it is for me to win. That's how I feel."
Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.
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