Latest news with #TurfWars
Yahoo
12-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Former NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith talks about league's upcoming CBA tussle
This might be perfect timing for DeMaurice Smith to promote a book reflecting on his personal journey and tenure as executive director of the NFL Players Association (NFLPA). Lloyd Howell, the man elected in 2023 to replace Smith, resigned last month in shame. JC Tretter, the former center and union president who gained powerful influence in recent years, stepped down, too, from his role as chief strategy officer. And with so many questions linked to a lack of transparency, particularly involving the election process and information from arbitration rulings not shared with the membership, the players union is mired in a big mess as David White begins as interim executive director. Smith's book, "Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game" (Random House, 368 pages, $32), was released on Aug. 5 as quite the coincidence. Leadership is a key theme. 'In no small way, we saw that play out over the last two months, in an unfortunate way,' Smith told USA TODAY Sports. 'My hope is that the players learn from it and spend time with what I'd call 'ruthless introspection' of how did they get here? And with the hope they turn it around. But it has to start and end with the players. It has much less to do with who their leader is.' NFLPA CONTROVERSIES: Everything to know about scandals that rocked union That last point is debatable, given turmoil stemming from the damning revelations exposed by Pablo Torre on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out." Torre published a 61-page ruling from independent arbitrator Christopher Downey from a 2022 lawsuit filed by the NFLPA alleging collusion by team owners that was kept secret from the union. He revealed that another ruling determined Tretter encouraged players to fake injuries while engaged in contract talks. And he revealed that Howell was a part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the NFL to invest in NFL teams, an apparent conflict of interest. Then ESPN reported that Howell's expense reports for visits to strip clubs ignited further scrutiny into his actions as union chief. Smith, citing a non-disparagement clause in his separation from the union, wouldn't specifically address the cases that blew up for the NFLPA, but he shared perspective on the role that White (the runner-up when Howell was elected) steps into on an interim basis while the search begins for a permanent executive director. White, formerly executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), was elected by a vote of player representatives from all 32 teams on Aug. 3. Key issues for White? 'First of all, 2030 is not as far off as you'd want to think,' Smith said, alluding to the expiration of the 11-year collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA. 'The changing media landscape is interesting. But I think the most pressing issue is how do you come in and take a group of players who haven't been in a fight and teach them about what a labor union is supposed to do.' When Smith replaced the late Gene Upshaw and began his 14-year tenure in 2009, surely there was no acclimation period. The fight was already on as NFL owners, on the short end of the last CBA that Upshaw negotiated, had already declared that it would opt out of the labor pact and lock out the players in 2011. 'It made teaching and the role of getting players ready for a war a little bit easier, because one was on the horizon,' Smith said. Ultimately, Smith led the NFLPA into two long labor pacts, the last one struck in 2020 during the pandemic, which was passed by players by a razor-thin margin, with the key pushback involving the 17th game the union agreed to. Now, the league is going full-steam ahead on desires to eventually expand the schedule to 18 games, which would need to be negotiated as part of the CBA – and perhaps before the current labor pact expires. FREEMAN: Will there ever be such a thing as too much NFL? That the NFLPA's leadership is in flux undoubtedly looms as an advantage for the NFL in ramping up for the next CBA. The current labor pact allows players to receive 48% of NFL revenues, which fuels the record $279.2 million salary cap for 2025. 'The biggest job for a labor leader is teaching, and how important it is to focus on the right issues,' Smith said. 'Understand you are in labor-management paradigm. That's always a battle.' Reflecting on his tenure – which included the COVID-19 crisis, the Colin Kaepernick-ignited player protests and the evolving concussion protocols – Smith said that one of his regrets is that he got away from the hard-core teaching that he stressed from 2009 to 2017. 'Now is that opportunity for players to go back to their roots,' said Smith, mindful of the turnover in membership that comes when the average player career span is roughly three years. He cites key figures from the timeline over several decades on the NFL front and beyond. 'Even the players who are not going to be there for 2030, if they don't know who Bill Radovich is, if they don't know who Freeman McNeil is, if they don't know who Reggie White was, if they don't understand the significance of Curt Flood or Oscar Robertson, man, you won't get it right. 'Whether the issues are Commissioner discipline, an 18th game or practice time, if players don't understand the history and necessity of fighting, you won't get it right.' Shortly after the resignations of Howell and Tretter, I reached out and asked Smith if he would consider returning to his former role on an interim basis to help the NFLPA navigate through its adversity. He scoffed. 'Absolutely not,' he said. 'This is a challenge the players need to resolve for themselves.' DRAGON: What's next for the NFLPA after stunning resignation of Lloyd Howell? In his book, Smith recalls a frosty exchange with Howell during the transition. Smith said that he wrote a letter for his successor and planned to leave it in his old desk – in the tradition of U.S. presidents – but had second thoughts after his single interaction with Howell. He folded up the letter and stuffed it in his pocket. 'I wrote that letter in the hope that it would help frame what the job is, if someone were truly curious about getting it right,' Smith said last weekend. He wanted to be a resource. Especially having never met Upshaw, who died on Aug. 20, 2008, three days after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 'There wasn't a day on the job where I didn't wake up and wish that I could talk to Gene,' Smith said. 'I kid you not. There wasn't a frickin' day.' He pledged that he's available for White. It's unclear how much White might tap that resource. Smith would certainly share thoughts about how players need to absorb how they are impacted by changing NFL business dynamics. The deal announced last week, with the NFL acquiring 10% equity in ESPN, resonated. 'It reminds you of the scale of this business,' Smith said. 'They're going to do what, $25 billion in revenue next year? This is the competition, and the ruthlessness of this business is far more intense off the field than it is on the field. And it's pretty intense on the field. 'You would want to know if there's a change in the rights fee (for ESPN),' he added. 'Those are the things the union needs to figure out. But most importantly, once you understand it, you're going to have to decide how do you fight it for your fair share? If anybody thinks that was just an idle, off-the-cuff comment from Roger (Goodell) – I forget when he said it, maybe a couple months ago – that he thought the players share was too high, you know that's what they do. They start messaging early.' Which means NFL players are pressed to reset their union priorities in a hurry and buckle up early for the next labor war that is surely coming. Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@ or follow on social media: On X: @JarrettBell. On Bluesky: This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeMaurice Smith talks NFLPA direction under David White, new CBA fight
NBC Sports
09-08-2025
- Politics
- NBC Sports
DeMaurice Smith would not have hidden the collusion ruling
The most stunning, and underreported, development of the summer came from the news that the NFL and the NFL Players Association hid for more than five months the 61-page ruling in a collusion grievance regarding fully-guaranteed player contracts. The NFL won, but the NFLPA secured a finding of an attempt to collude — along with persuasive evidence of actual collusion and the right to appeal the case. The union should have used the document as the basis for a legal, political, and P.R. assault on the NFL. Former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell didn't do that. Former NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter insists he was excluded from the development of the strategy to conceal the ruling. Appearing earlier this week on #PFTPM to promote his new book, Turf Wars, former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith was asked what he would have done if the collusion case that had started during his tenure had been resolved while he was still on the job. 'I always try to avoid speculating or putting other people in a box based on what I would do,' Smith said, 'but, you know, given a finding that the Management Council, which literally runs and controls the entire National Football League, had urged teams to avoid fully guaranteed contracts, I think I would have — well, actually, I know — I would have filed another grievance based on that finding, looked to see if there was a class of players that, based on that finding, could have been negatively impacted by that decision by the Management Council, and certainly would have appealed anything in the ruling that I had thought, or we thought, was inconsistent with the law or inconsistent with the facts.' In other words, he wouldn't have struck a confidential deal with the league to keep the outcome just as confidential. 'You take the evidence that you have, and we had evidence that gave us a basis for filing, and you take the next step,' Smith said. 'And again, I know and you know that while I was the executive director, there were always a few people who wanted to throw out the tagline that 'De Smith would rather litigate than negotiate.' You know, that was never true, but I was also never ignorant — willfully ignorant — of the history of not only this player's union, but the history of every player's union that ever existed. 'You don't have to go far, but if you don't understand the role of Oscar Robertson and if you don't understand the role of John Mackie and if you don't understand the role or the importance of Bill Radovich and if you certainly don't understand how important Curt Flood was to the business of sport, if you are willfully ignorant of the stories of collusion and the fights for free agency in the history of sports unions, I don't think that you can be qualified for that job. If you do understand the role of those people over history, you understand that you have an obligation to pay it forward. And that would have been an easy decision for me.' While Smith never mentioned Howell, the message is inescapable. Howell had no union history. By all appearances, he lacked any basic understanding of the role of a sports union in ensuring a proper balance between management and labor. That's why people should care about the current chaos within the union. If things get too far out of balance, problems can arise. Up to and including a work stoppage aimed at restoring the right balance. As to the collusion case, the NFLPA caught the NFL with its hand in the cookie jar. Howell opted to look the other way and to say, basically, 'Enjoy the cookies.' That fact alone proves that Howell was not qualified for the job he held for more than two years.
The Herald Scotland
07-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
DeMaurice Smith book slams Roger Goodell, Aaron Rodgers, Jerry Jones
Smith calls Goodell "a cold, dark void" who "was in the employ of madmen." Jones is characterized as stingy despite his estimated net worth extending into the tens of billions in recent years. Smith writes, "If Jerry Jones saw a dollar bill on the ground, I truly believe he'd stop and pick it up." NFL COLLUSION: In stunning ruling, arbitrator finds NFL encouraged collusion Jones is one of the main names called out in the book, though Smith doesn't let the rest of owners off the hook either. Awful Announcing's report on the early copy of "Turf Wars" includes that its author calls the overall group of NFL owners "a cabal of greedy billionaires." Notably, and despite the general characterization of NFL owners, Patriots owner Robert Kraft receives a nod in the acknowledgements section of Smith's book, according to Awful Announcing. The worst of all top NFL officials, according to Smith, is Pash, who retired in 2024 after 40 years of working with the league. Smith calls Pash "definitely the most unscrupulous. In a corporation filled with ruthless people, Pash has everyone else beat." AARON RODGERS: Steelers QB hosts DK Metcalf, other teammates for Malibu workout Smith didn't stop at calling out NFL executives, either. Awful Announcing reported that the former head of the NFLPA called Rodgers "the god of Cheesehead Nation" and "isolated and dismissive." Writes Smith: "He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit. An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist." That wasn't all. "In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers," Smith writes. "'Can you call me?' it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?" Smith's criticism of players didn't stop with Rodgers. Also on the chopping block is Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who Smith calls out for criticizing players that kneeled during the national anthem because it "may be hurting the game and having an effect on revenue." NFL 2025: Predicting the 4 most explosive offensive players in the league Smith served as the NFLPA's executive director from 2009 until 2023. During his tenure, he dealt with the 2011 NFL lockout amid new contract bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations and the "Deflategate" incident from the 2014 AFC championship game. Smith also was the man who filed the initial complaint with arbitrator Christopher Droney that accused NFL owners of collusion. Droney ultimately dismissed the case, though not before noting in a 61-page document that the NFL Management Council "encouraged 32 member Clubs of the NFL to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting." The report ultimately found that NFL owners had not been engaging in collusive conduct, but the document remained under wraps until Pablo Torre unveiled it on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out" late last month.
CBS News
06-07-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
National adult kickball tournament returns to Maryland with a boom for Fourth of July weekend
A National adult kickball tournament returned to Maryland this weekend and was streamed on ESPN3. The MARS TurfWars brought kickball teams from around the country to Elkridge in Howard County. This was the second time MARS brought the kickball tournament to Maryland. In 2024, the tournament was held in Prince George's County. According to the Turf Wars Kickball website, this is the top adult kickball brand in the country, and he first and only kickball organization to be played in full on an ESPN station. Maryland's kickball tournament Four competitive divisions, with dozens of teams, were playing on Saturday, July 5, and Sunday, July 7. MARS partners with the Maryland Sports Commission to bring the sport to the state. Graham Whaples, the project administrator for the Maryland Sports Commission, said the kickball tournament brings a nice economic boom to the region. "We got folks coming from all over the country," Whaples said. "They're staying in hotels, they're going out to restaurants, and that's a huge impact that we have here, especially over the holiday weekend."
USA Today
06-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
DeMaurice Smith slams Roger Goodell, Jerry Jones, Aaron Rodgers in new book
DeMaurice "De" Smith hasn't served as the NFL Players Association's executive director for more than two years. But there's clearly no love lost between him and some of the NFL's most important figures. According to Awful Announcing, Smith plans to publish his new book, "Turf Wars," in early August. In it, he slams NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, former NFL general counsel Jeff Pash and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Smith calls Goodell "a cold, dark void" who "was in the employ of madmen." Jones is characterized as stingy despite his estimated net worth extending into the tens of billions in recent years. Smith writes, "If Jerry Jones saw a dollar bill on the ground, I truly believe he'd stop and pick it up." NFL COLLUSION: In stunning ruling, arbitrator finds NFL encouraged collusion Jones is one of the main names called out in the book, though Smith doesn't let the rest of owners off the hook either. Awful Announcing's report on the early copy of "Turf Wars" includes that its author calls the overall group of NFL owners "a cabal of greedy billionaires." Notably, and despite the general characterization of NFL owners, Patriots owner Robert Kraft receives a nod in the acknowledgements section of Smith's book, according to Awful Announcing. The worst of all top NFL officials, according to Smith, is Pash, who retired in 2024 after 40 years of working with the league. Smith calls Pash "definitely the most unscrupulous. In a corporation filled with ruthless people, Pash has everyone else beat." AARON RODGERS: Steelers QB hosts DK Metcalf, other teammates for Malibu workout Smith didn't stop at calling out NFL executives, either. Awful Announcing reported that the former head of the NFLPA called Rodgers "the god of Cheesehead Nation" and "isolated and dismissive." Writes Smith: "He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit. An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist." That wasn't all. "In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers," Smith writes. "'Can you call me?' it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?" Smith's criticism of players didn't stop with Rodgers. Also on the chopping block is Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who Smith calls out for criticizing players that kneeled during the national anthem because it "may be hurting the game and having an effect on revenue." NFL 2025: Predicting the 4 most explosive offensive players in the league Smith served as the NFLPA's executive director from 2009 until 2023. During his tenure, he dealt with the 2011 NFL lockout amid new contract bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations and the "Deflategate" incident from the 2014 AFC championship game. Smith also was the man who filed the initial complaint with arbitrator Christopher Droney that accused NFL owners of collusion. Droney ultimately dismissed the case, though not before noting in a 61-page document that the NFL Management Council "encouraged 32 member Clubs of the NFL to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting." The report ultimately found that NFL owners had not been engaging in collusive conduct, but the document remained under wraps until Pablo Torre unveiled it on his podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out" late last month.
