NFLPA’s Ex-Chief Smith Banked $8M in 2023 as Union’s Assets Soared
The National Football League Players Association’s former executive director was paid $7.85 million his last full year on the job, while the labor union continued to see its net assets soar past three-quarters-of-a-billion dollars ($783.1 million).
DeMaurice “De” Smith, who ran the NFLPA from 2009 until this past June, received a deferred compensation payout of $3.44 million for the 2023 fiscal year, according to a copy of the union’s most recent tax return, which was obtained by Sportico.
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In addition to his role with the NFLPA, which paid Smith $2.2 million annually, he also had an employment contract to serve as chairman of the league’s commercial arm, NFL Players Inc., which established a deferred compensation grantor trust.
It is unclear how much that will continue to pay out to Smith; both he and an NFLPA spokesperson declined to comment.
Smith was elected to his fifth and final three-year term in October 2021, but not without drama. His extension wasn’t unanimously approved by the union’s executive committee, leading to a wider vote among the league’s 32 player reps. He narrowly received more than two thirds of that vote to avoid a full, open player-wide election. He told players during that process that it would be his last term in the role.
His struggle to gain support came in the wake of a new 10-year labor accord that many players did not like. Among other things, Smith was criticized for what some perceived to be the union’s abandonment of Colin Kaepernick, who accused the NFL of colluding to keep him off a roster in the wake of his kneeling during the national anthem. It earmarked 48.5% of revenue for players—the lowest total of the four major U.S. leagues—and added a 17th regular season game despite concerns about added injury risk. That deal was also ratified by players by a razor-thin margin.
Following a lengthy search, Smith was replaced by Lloyd Howell Jr., who previously served as the CFO for Booz Allen Hamilton. The transition came at a time of relative stability for the union, with the current labor accord in place through March 2030. One of the NFLPA’s biggest business initiatives of the past few years has been the growth of OneTeam Partners, the group licensing and NIL firm it launched in 2019 alongside the the Major League Baseball Players Association.
By comparison, MLBPA president Tony Clark received compensation of $2.3 million for FY22.
Over his 15-year tenure at the NFLPA, Smith, a former trial lawyer, oversaw the union early quadruple its net assets. Among his other challenges was guiding the players through a three-month lockout by team owners in 2011.
After Smith’s departure last summer, NFLPA CFO Charles Ross left in November. The tax return shows Ross was paid $537,840 in FY23. NFL Players Inc. president Steve Scebelo, meanwhile, is expected to step down by March 1.
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