DeMaurice ‘De’ Smith hasn’t served as the NFL Players Association’s executive director for more than two years. But there’s clearly no love lost between him and some of the NFL’s most important figures.
According to Awful Announcing, Smith plans to publish his new book, ‘Turf Wars,’ in early August. In it, he slams NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Dallas Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, former NFL general counsel Jeff Pash and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Smith calls Goodell ‘a cold, dark void’ who ‘was in the employ of madmen.’
Jones is characterized as stingy despite his estimated net worth extending into the tens of billions in recent years.
Smith writes, ‘If Jerry Jones saw a dollar bill on the ground, I truly believe he’d stop and pick it up.’
Jones is one of the main names called out in the book, though Smith doesn’t let the rest of owners off the hook either. Awful Announcing’s report on the early copy of ‘Turf Wars’ includes that its author calls the overall group of NFL owners ‘a cabal of greedy billionaires.’
Notably, and despite the general characterization of NFL owners, Patriots owner Robert Kraft receives a nod in the acknowledgements section of Smith’s book, according to Awful Announcing.
The worst of all top NFL officials, according to Smith, is Pash, who retired in 2024 after 40 years of working with the league.
Smith calls Pash ‘definitely the most unscrupulous. In a corporation filled with ruthless people, Pash has everyone else beat.’
Smith didn’t stop at calling out NFL executives, either. Awful Announcing reported that the former head of the NFLPA called Rodgers ‘the god of Cheesehead Nation’ and ‘isolated and dismissive.’
Writes Smith: ‘He sat in the back row of the meeting room, issuing loud sighs before standing for a dramatic exit. An incredible quarterback, to be sure, but an even more impressive antagonist.’
That wasn’t all.
‘In August 2021, my phone chirped with a text from Aaron Rodgers,’ Smith writes. ‘‘Can you call me?’ it read. Could I not run into traffic instead?’
Smith’s criticism of players didn’t stop with Rodgers. Also on the chopping block is Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins, who Smith calls out for criticizing players that kneeled during the national anthem because it ‘may be hurting the game and having an effect on revenue.’
Smith served as the NFLPA’s executive director from 2009 until 2023. During his tenure, he dealt with the 2011 NFL lockout amid new contract bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations and the ‘Deflategate’ incident from the 2014 AFC championship game.
Smith also was the man who filed the initial complaint with arbitrator Christopher Droney that accused NFL owners of collusion. Droney ultimately dismissed the case, though not before noting in a 61-page document that the NFL Management Council ‘encouraged 32 member Clubs of the NFL to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting.’
The report ultimately found that NFL owners had not been engaging in collusive conduct, but the document remained under wraps until Pablo Torre unveiled it on his podcast, ‘Pablo Torre Finds Out’ late last month.