NFL Insider: Why DeMaurice Smith Is the Wrong Man for the Players

It hasn’t been quite a month yet and the current problems between the NFL owners and its players is already starting to look like an ugly affair that may end up taking a while to get straightened out.  If you have been keeping up with what’s been happening between the NFL and its players closely, you might have noticed that this has gotten much uglier than we have been lead to believe and it’s because of the way that those people who are leading the players into this are acting and conducting themselves.

The players are the ones that decided to bring DeMaurice Smith into the leadership role of the union after its long time leader Gene Upshaw passed away suddenly.  Upshaw, a former NFL player, had a very good relationship the NFL ownership and their commissioner—at the time that the last NFL labor struggle was taking place, Paul Tagliabue was the commission—and it was his strength, leadership and relationships that helped make the last labor fight a short one that didn’t end up being a long and drawn out affair.

Smith is a lawyer by trade and has never played in the NFL.  With that, his understanding of the game, the way that the players play the game, and feel about the game is limited.  Perhaps as a result of this, he brought in several players during the negotiations to help get the point across to the owners that the players are serious and know what they want.  Rumor is that the players played an active part in the negotiations.

The problem with bringing players into the fold when doing these contract negotiations is that there could be (and rumor is there was) conflicts between the owners and the players.  It gets too “personal” when you bring players into the mix with owners and soon negotiating goes to the side and personal feelings are displayed.  The owners know that the players want more money and the players feel that the owners are holding out on them.  It makes for good theater but it’s not the way that these negotiations should be conducted.

But you can’t leave it up to the lawyers either because they tend to drag things out much longer than they should and in Smith’s case, they don’t understand the business behind running and NFL team or being a player in the league.  He clearly doesn’t have the experience that Upshaw had and doesn’t have the relationships with the other side—the owners and the commissioner—like Upshaw did. 

Smith has alienated himself from the commissioner of the ownership, having failed to develop at least a cordial relationship with them to help make negotiations go much easier than they have.

Negations between employer and employee aren’t always cordial and can sometimes get pretty messy.  Just look at what has happened with the State of Wisconsin and its employees.  Things get messy but things can be prevented.  There needs to be an experienced negotiator running the show for the players, someone who has experience as a player yet knows something about business and how to deal with people.

Perhaps a former player with some business experience would have been a better choice to lead the NFLPA than someone like Smith was.  Some of the other candidates that were up for election to replace Upshaw had experience like this including Trace Armstrong, a guy that would have been a perfect fit in this instance.

Players that have lived the NFL life from start to finish definitely have a lot more experience with that it’s like to be a player, what player benefits are like and how they work as well as how they get paid.  Granted, there is a lot of legal work that needs to be done during these negotiations but that is what another lawyer would be good for.  You can’t have someone acting as the lawyer plus trying to think with the mind of an NFL players.  It just doesn’t work.

It’s too late for the NFLPA to turn back now.  They have started this by not certifying and going after the NFL in hopes of getting what they want.  They either want a new deal struck or things to return to the way they were under the old agreement, particularly what they had in 2010.

It will all come down to what the judge decides in the hearing that was set for the 6th of April.  Will the judge rule in favor of the players, tell the league and it’s owners to end the lockout and revert to the contract that they played under in 2010 or will they say that the owners are right, the lockout is legal and that both sides have to continue trying to negotiate and come to an agreement.

The judge did suggest that the two sides get together and try to mediate their argument, and it does appear that both sides do want to talk.

Hopefully, this whole argument is put to rest soon and the NFL and its players can get back to doing what they do best: putting a good product out on the field and playing football.