There’s a fine line between confidentiality and transparency. At a certain point, secrecy suggests chicanery.
For the NFL Players Association’s ongoing effort to find a new executive director, there’s no evidence of chicanery. Of course, there’s no evidence at all. The entire process has been shrouded in extreme secrecy.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post has some new details on the “protracted” search for a replacement to DeMaurice Smith.
Per the report, Domonique Foxworth, Kellen Winslow Sr., and Matt Schaub “were considered for the job” by the NFLPA’s executive committee, but that they are “no longer regarded as candidates.”
Maske also reports that NFLPA executive Don Davis “has reemerged as a potential candidate,” following a report last month from TheAthletic.com that the list of finalists included no internal candidates.
David Feher, an outside attorney for the union, also is regarded as a “possible contender,” according to Maske.
Not under consideration, according to Maske, are former NFLPA president Eric Winston, attorney Cyrus Mehri, attorney David Cornwell, and former Packers executive and agent Andrew Brandt.
Maske identifies others who have been “mentioned in speculation": NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso, NFLPA COO Teri Smith, NFLPA spokesperson George Atallah, and former NFL receiver and member of Congress Anthony Gonzalez.
The end result could be a Brewster’s Millions-style “none of the above.” Maske writes that some are wondering whether the entire process will end with the inability of the players to agree on a new executive director, which could result in Smith remaining in the position.
So what’s really going on? It would be nice for players to know. Even though the rank and file don’t vote on the position, they seem to be every bit in the dark as the rest of us. At some point, shouldn’t the union send out an email listing the candidates and asking the players to make their preferences known to the team-elected representatives?
This is a fairly big issue for the union. And, yes, the ongoing absence of any information about who is or isn’t a candidate eventually will invite fair suspicion that someone is up to something.