With the window closed for submitting nominations for the position of NFLPA executive director, the official ballot has been announced.
NFLPA president Eric Winston said via Twitter that incumbent DeMaurice Smith will face Jim Acho, Jason Belser, Sean Gilbert, Robert Griffith, Rob London, Arthur McAfee, John Stufflebeam, and Andrew Smith.
Robert London is one of the newest additions to the pool. He is described in multiple online articles as a sports agent, but he does not appear to be an NFLPA-certified contract advisor. In 2013, there were reports linking him to Jay Z’s then-fledging Roc Nation firm.
Jason Belser, who initially was omitted from the final ballot (Winston, in a follow-up tweet, called it an “[u]nfortunate email oversight by me on a crazy last day”), is the NFLPA’s Senior Director of Player Affairs & Development. He reportedly declared his intent to run to staff members on Thursday.
One other declared candidate apparently failed to secure at least three nominations. Former player and NFL Executive Committee member Sean Morey, who made an aggressive public case for change in leadership, is not among the official candidates.
The nine candidates will attend the upcoming NFLPA annual meeting and present their cases for election. The 32 voting player reps (one per team) will then cast a ballot. If one candidate gets 17 or more, he wins the job. If no one gets a majority, candidate with the least votes drops out and voting continues with the rest, until someone has a majority.