TWO OPTIONS FOR extending the NFL season were in play in fall 2019, and DeMaurice Smith seemed defiant in the face of one of them. Smith, the veteran executive director of the NFL Players Association, was standing before a room of players, part of his annual tour of locker rooms to deliver an insider's update on negotiations with the league. A deadline was coming fast: The league demanded a new collective bargaining agreement by March 2020, even though the current one didn't expire until early 2021. But owners wanted an early deal because they intended to enter into rights negotiations with their broadcast partners.
Inside the dual legacies of the NFL players' union boss DeMaurice Smith
