Pressure grows on NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith

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The hard line former candidates for the post of NFLPA Executive Director that were defeated by DeMaurice Smith in vote of the Executive Committee last year are clambering again. Former NFLPA President Troy Vincent was one candidate that is reportedly active again in the annual meeting of the union this year. Rumors are that Vincent’s immediate target is current NFLPA President Kevin Mawae. Originally, Mawae was not expected to have any opposition for reelection. Now he will from the hard line group. Mawae is known to be less hard line than his likely opponents. The President must be an active NFL player. If Vincent can get Mawae replaced by a hard line guy, that will put more pressure on Smith to take a more aggressive stance against the owners. It will also put another hard liner on the negotiating team.

There are 4 players that are stepping down 10-man Executive Committee. Those players are Keenan McCardell, Donovin Darius, Mark Bruener, and Kevin Carter. If those 4 are replaced by hard liners, Smith’s position could be in jeopardy. A change at the top of the union’s negotiating team would insure a 2011 lockout.

What restarted the attempted coup is an … Read more at FryingPanSports

The pressure is on Delhomme to take the Panthers to the next level.

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It’s hard to find many holes in the Carolina Panthers but there is one Empire State building size question markā€”Can Jake Delhomme take the team deep into the playoffs? Delhomme enters his 11th season but he has only 6 seasons starting (not counting his 3 games in 07). He is a slightly above average QB but not the guy that can get a team over the hump to the Super Bowl. In 04 and 05 he threw 53 TDs and only 31 picks. He made the pro bowl and looked like he was about to become a star. That star faided quickly because in 06 he was back to throwing about as many TDs (17) as Ints (11). 07 was a lost year with injuries. Last season was another average season (15TDs and 12 Ints). What was worse, he blew up in the playoff game giving away the hard earned home field advantage and throwing his team right out of the playoffs.

This year will decided if he is the guy or if the team will try to get a starter of the future in what is expected to be one of the all time great QB drafts in … Read more at FryingPanSports

San Diego wins the 09 AFC West by default.

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The Chargers are fortunate to be in the worst division in the NFL. They are a good team which puts them into the playoffs by default. They have enough stars to win the division but not enough to get them to the Super Bowl.

QB Philip Rivers is outstanding in the Norv Turner system. He is accurate and tough. His toughness was proven when he played with a bad knee. He had a pass rating of 105 last year and is still getting better. Billy Volek is one of the best backups. That is important because Rivers takes more risks than Turner would like.

The running game will depend a lot on how healthy LaDainian Tomlinson is. His last couple of years have been injury filled. Tomlinson is 30 and that is a magic age where NFL backs turn to dust. The Chargers hope that doesn’t happen this year. The team franchised Darren Sproles to insure they kept him. He is not a 20 carry plus a game guy. The real backup if LT gets hurt might be the versatile Jacob Hester or vet Michael Bennett. Hester ended his rookie season injured but looked good when he got a chance. … Read more at FryingPanSports

The NFL may not play in 2010!

Fryingpan Sports

The NFL may not play in 2010!

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Troy Vincent Trace Armstrong

By Bill Smith

Technorati Tags: NFL, NFL DRAFT, STRIKE, Upshaw, Vincent, Armstrong, NFLPA, Executive Director, Utt, Covert, Smith, free agent, contract

There is another election going on in March and it will not select a president. It will select the man that will replace Gene Upshaw as Executive Director of the NFL Players Association. This election is critical to every NFL fan because the winner will be the key to the future of the league.

Right now there are 5 candidates. Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong both former Presidents of the NFLPA are the favorites. While both are popular among the players, according to John Clayton’s conversation with him about his possible retirement, Upshaw preferred Armstrong to replace him. Other candidates include former Bears tackle Jim Covert, Ben Utt, who played for Baltimore and Indianapolis, and Washington-based attorney DeMaurice Smith.

The league needs to negotiate a new deal with the players. When Upshaw was the rep for the players, he was able to get them major concessions in the percentage of the total NFL revenue payable to the players and significantly increased the minimum that each team … Read more at FryingPanSports