As the head of the National Football League Players’ Association since 2009, DeMaurice Smith has overseen one work stoppage and a lot of labor issues with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Co.
It’s now possible that Smith could be out of a job within the next several months.
According to Yahoo, the 14-member NFLPA Selection Committee did not vote unanimously to re-elect Smith for another team as the head of the union. In fact, said vote came out to a 7-7 tie. If DeMaurice Smith had received one less vote, his job would’ve been considered “open.”
This is no small thing. The selection process will now turn to the 32 team representatives for a vote in which Smith needs to receive approval from two-thirds in order to continue with his job. Based on the initial 14-rep vote, that’s not a guarantee.
For many, this could be seen as a great sign. Smith has struggled to lead the union against the ever-growing presence of commissioner Roger Goodell. In particular, the NFL-mandated punishment process of players under both the personal conduct and substance abuse guises have largely been heavily slanted in the direction of the league.
This should get rather interesting moving forward. For now, DeMaurice Smith and his job as the head of the NFLPA is nowhere near guaranteed moving forward.