The National Football League Players Association March 15 named DeMaurice Smith as the group’s executive director, effective immediately. Smith replaces Pro Football Hall of Fame member Gene Upshaw, who led the union for 25 years until his death in August. Smith, who was unanimously elected to a three-year term by the members of the Board of Player Representatives during the group’s annual Board of Player Representatives meeting in Hawaii, comes to the NFLPA from D.C. law firm Patton Boggs, where he was a trial lawyer and litigation partner. Only the third executive director of the NFLPA since the group’s founding in 1956, Smith joins at a time of dispute with team owners… Read More