LOS ANGELES -- Leftovers from an all-business annual NFL meetings, with some news about an event to help the good Dr. Z heal thyself ... and with 26 days before the draft, what would MMQB be without a nugget or two about the fate of the Lions at No. 1:
In a year in which sweeping and historic change has come to Washington, D.C. on a national scale, the NFL Players Association followed suit with the trend Sunday night, electing D.C.-based attorney DeMaurice F. Smith, a relative unknown quantity in NFL circles, as the union's new executive director, SI.com has learned.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we tip-toe through a Friday the 13th in the NFL offseason...
As the contentious process of electing a new executive director of the NFL Players Association nears its conclusion in less than two weeks, Terri Upshaw, the widow of longtime NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, told SI.com on Thursday that she questions whether former union president Troy Vincent would be "the right candidate'' to fill the powerful job her husband held for 25 years before his death in August 2008.
With the NFL Players Association having outside legal counsel investigate whether former union president Troy Vincent improperly released confidential information about agents to a longtime friend and business partner, Mark Mangum, sources tell SI.com that one revelation expected to come to light is that former NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw had collected numerous internal e-mails from Vincent allegedly proving that he disclosed the privileged information.
Roger Goodell is one of those rare people who always knew what they wanted to do: On graduating from college, he wrote to his father (New York Congressman and Senator Charles Goodell) that he intended to become commissioner of the National Football League. He nabbed an unpaid internship at the NFL and 23 years later achieved his goal.
Achtung Loyalists! Your faithful narrator is being ripped by Sean of Rochester for being a copout and so wimpy that he's chicken to take a shot at the Personal Seat License scam. Coward, that's what he says I am, and what's worse, a coward with a weight problem.
Of course, death could have him as it could have any man: any way it wanted. But an odd thing happened last week once it entered that big house, Gene Upshaw. Death became him.
Gene Upshaw came into the NFL through a scam, and the guy scammed later became one of the most respected personnel men in the league. But in 1967 Ron Wolf was just a hard-working, 27-year-old super scout for Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders, and as the draft approached he knew he was going to have a war on his hands.
When I heard the stunning news of the death of Gene Upshaw this morning, I thought: How many people in NFL history have been as impactful on the game as Upshaw? A few, certainly. But how many people have had two totally different careers in the same sport and been giants at each?
LOS ANGELES -- Leftovers from an all-business annual NFL meetings, with some news about an event to help the good Dr. Z heal thyself ... and with 26 days before the draft, what would MMQB be without a nugget or two about the fate of the Lions at No. 1:
In a year in which sweeping and historic change has come to Washington, D.C. on a national scale, the NFL Players Association followed suit with the trend Sunday night, electing D.C.-based attorney DeMaurice F. Smith, a relative unknown quantity in NFL circles, as the union's new executive director, SI.com has learned.
Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we tip-toe through a Friday the 13th in the NFL offseason...
As the contentious process of electing a new executive director of the NFL Players Association nears its conclusion in less than two weeks, Terri Upshaw, the widow of longtime NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw, told SI.com on Thursday that she questions whether former union president Troy Vincent would be "the right candidate'' to fill the powerful job her husband held for 25 years before his death in August 2008.
With the NFL Players Association having outside legal counsel investigate whether former union president Troy Vincent improperly released confidential information about agents to a longtime friend and business partner, Mark Mangum, sources tell SI.com that one revelation expected to come to light is that former NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw had collected numerous internal e-mails from Vincent allegedly proving that he disclosed the privileged information.
Roger Goodell is one of those rare people who always knew what they wanted to do: On graduating from college, he wrote to his father (New York Congressman and Senator Charles Goodell) that he intended to become commissioner of the National Football League. He nabbed an unpaid internship at the NFL and 23 years later achieved his goal.
Achtung Loyalists! Your faithful narrator is being ripped by Sean of Rochester for being a copout and so wimpy that he's chicken to take a shot at the Personal Seat License scam. Coward, that's what he says I am, and what's worse, a coward with a weight problem.
Of course, death could have him as it could have any man: any way it wanted. But an odd thing happened last week once it entered that big house, Gene Upshaw. Death became him.
Gene Upshaw came into the NFL through a scam, and the guy scammed later became one of the most respected personnel men in the league. But in 1967 Ron Wolf was just a hard-working, 27-year-old super scout for Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders, and as the draft approached he knew he was going to have a war on his hands.
When I heard the stunning news of the death of Gene Upshaw this morning, I thought: How many people in NFL history have been as impactful on the game as Upshaw? A few, certainly. But how many people have had two totally different careers in the same sport and been giants at each?
Gene Upshaw, the executive director of the NFL Players Association and a Hall of Fame guard with the Oakland Raiders, has died, the association said on its Web site Thursday.
Gene Upshaw, the Hall of Fame guard who as union head helped get NFL players free agency and the riches that came with it, has died at 63
With no football to play for the first time in 18 years, former pro Ross Tucker is passing the time reading about his favorite sport. What follows are a few links to NFL-related articles he found and his take on them.
The NFL owners' early opt out of their labor agreement with the players is one of the best things that could happen to the process. That isn't to say that this won't be a long and arduous fight between the players, who believe they deserve their rightful share of the pie, and the league, which has some legitimate financial concerns with small market franchises lagging behind the big boys, but timing was a key element here.
Imagine watching an NBA draft lottery in which teams hoped and prayed they wouldn't win the No. 1 selection. Rather than being elated the ping pong ball bounced its way, the winning team would actually be disappointed. Seems far-fetched? Well, if the NBA handled the compensation for players drafted in the top half of the first round like the NFL does, such a scenario would be very likely.
With the draft 18 days away, the two questions I'm hearing everywhere are these: Who will be the second QB taken and how high will he go?
I never believed in ghosts. So when I was told they were out there moaning in the field, my response was no different than yours, no doubt, would be. I rolled my eyes and laughed.
PHOENIX -- The one thing Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter said in Friday's New York Times regarding Spygate that I agree with is this: "The American people are entitled to be sure about the integrity of the game.'' He's 100 percent right. In fact, the one thing about the Patriots' September response to the incident that bothers me is they never acknowledged whether the taping went back to any of their three Super Bowl victories.
Under fire from injured retirees who say they were denied sufficient benefits, the head of the National Football League Players Association asked Congress on Tuesday for greater authority to approve disability claims.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and union chief Gene Upshaw plan to testify Tuesday at a Senate Commerce committee hearing on the NFL's retirement system and the problems for former players who are disabled from injuries.
The National Football League is generally a flawless marketing powerhouse. But a bunch of broken-down, retired players are in the process of handing the NFL its biggest public relations loss in years.
I have been asked this question, given the new studies on head injuries and concussions: Can they be related to size and speed of the players? Jason of Berkley, Mich., brings up this point and wonders if the NFL might someday impose a weight limit.
The sports world has been going through withdrawal these past seven days -- of demands, opinions, and of job acceptances. Billy Donovan's Orlando two-step is the most prominent flip-flop, but not the only one. In L.A., Kobe Bryant declared last week he wanted out of L.A., only to say three hours later that L.A. was his lady. In Washington, D.C., earlier this week Clinton Portis told the assembled media that, after further study, he reversed his earlier remarks and did have some objection to people having their dogs attack each other for entertainment.
Roger Goodell had a big decision to make Tuesday morning, but in the end it was a fairly easy one. Other than Tennessee miscreant Pacman Jones and his agent, who in the football world thought Jones didn't deserve a major whacking? Even Chris Henry, known more for getting arrested than for his considerable receiving talent in Cincinnati, knew he had a major suspension coming.
NEW YORK (AP) -- The punishment was aimed squarely at Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry. The message went far beyond them, to all NFL players.
The NFL will consider a "three strikes and you're out of the league" policy for players who break the law, the Associated Press reported this week. The proposal is the result of a meeting between NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, union head Gene Upshaw and a small group of NFL players.
Gene Upshaw positively cooed Monday when he talked about how fabulously disgusted NFL players were with their fellow problem children. He raved that it was the players who proposed a "three-strikes-and-out" rule, and he gushed, "what's amazing about these guys is that they are very, very concerned about all of this."
Lease wars are being waged at 20th and L Streets, N.W., the latest battleground for developers trying to fill their marble and glass office palaces . . . At 2021 L Street, developers . . . offered ...
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