Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game - Hardcover

Smith, DeMaurice

  • 4.16 out of 5 stars
    267 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780593729427: Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America's Game
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0593729420 ISBN 13: 9780593729427
Publisher: Random House, 2025

Synopsis

An NFL insider’s explosive account of the ruthless power struggles between owners and players over the future of football.

During his fourteen years as the head of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith was a front line advocate for football players through some of the most tumultuous crises in NFL history: Colin Kaepernick’s protests, Deflategate, a lockout, two collective bargaining agreements, and more. But after witnessing the league’s troubling response to discrimination and racial unrest, both within the league and beyond, Smith realized it was time to pull back the curtain and speak truth to power.

Drawing from his years of unprecedented access and unparalleled knowledge of America’s favorite sport, Smith documents his years leading the NFLPA and explains how the NFL distorts the truth, telling partial stories to insulate itself and grow its $20-billion-a-year brand—and the players’ battles to protect themselves.

From contract negotiations to battles over suspensions, Smith shows us how the union fought to protect players from the greed, racism, and dishonesty the league is built on. He also takes readers inside closed-door meetings and unreported conversations and confrontations with the industry’s most powerful figures such as Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, Tom Brady, and Roger Goodell.

Turf Wars puts every NFL crisis—both familiar and lesser known—within a broader cultural and historical context, framing the league’s extraordinary rise as a mirror to America’s own history. Revelatory and profound, Turf Wars is a book about the soul of football: its degradation, and how to save it.

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About the Author

DeMaurice Smith is the former executive director of the National Football League Players Association. Prior to the NFLPA, Smith was an assistant United States attorney, counsel to the US deputy attorney general, and a partner in major law firms. Smith is currently a law and business professor in residence.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Random House
Publication date
2025
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0593729420
ISBN 13 
9780593729427
Binding
Hardcover
Number of pages
368
Rating
  • 4.16 out of 5 stars
    267 ratings by Goodreads