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

by DeMaurice Smith Narrated by DeMaurice Smith

Overview

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A no-holds-barred look at [Smith’s] tenure at the helm of the labor union . . . Heartlessness was typical, in Smith’s telling, and caused him to view the ‘greedy billionaires’ running the league as ‘the same kinds of people who have traditionally accumulated power in the United States: rich, narcissistic, insecure.’ This insider account hits hard.”—Publishers Weekly

“Depicts an industry awash in bad blood . . . Smith took the job in what looked like a hopeful new era epitomized by Barack Obama’s presidency, but his ‘idealism’ was destroyed by his dealings with the powerful men who run the game. . . . Smith includes memorable glimpses of star players . . . [and] shares fascinating anecdotes about the intrigue surrounding union votes and how some influential players are increasingly susceptible to ‘the misinformation virus.’”—Kirkus Reviews

“With obvious appeal to football fans interested in a behind-the-scenes look at the battles between players and ownership, Smith’s story would benefit anyone looking to work (or play) in the professional sports arena.”—Booklist

Kirkus Reviews

2025-05-27
The contact sport of labor negotiations.

Smith, executive director of the NFL players’ union from 2009 to 2023, depicts an industry awash in bad blood. Players have “visceral disgust” for Commissioner Roger Goodell, the highly paid “Prince Valiant” for “narcissistic” team owners, who “hate one another” and view neither players nor “the general public as human” but as “commodities” and “customers.” Smith took the job in what looked like a hopeful new era epitomized by Barack Obama’s presidency, but his “idealism” was destroyed by his dealings with the powerful men who run the game. Smith, who is Black, says a team owner called him “uppity.” A coach used racist language to mock him. The ensuing controversy over the latter, following George Floyd’s murder, “broke me,” writes Smith, recounting his awakening from “lifelong denial” about the scope of racial discrimination. In response, he’s “finished holding my tongue.” Indeed, Smith divulges that “a prominent owner confessed to me that the league had broken federal anti-trust laws by coming to a secret handshake agreement that, two years earlier, had denied players millions of dollars they were contractually entitled to.” Smith’s tenure included relative labor peace, thanks to his negotiation of a long-term collective bargaining agreement and breakthroughs on player safety, salary guarantees, and licensing revenue. Adding a game to each team’s schedule proved less popular with players, some of whom “turned on me.” Smith includes memorable glimpses of star players. He’d rather “run into traffic” than talk on the phone with Aaron Rodgers. When Smith visited Tom Brady’s house, he was offered his pick from a selection of Ugg slippers. Smith also shares fascinating anecdotes about the intrigue surrounding union votes and how some influential players are increasingly susceptible to “the misinformation virus.”

Receipts in hand, a longtime NFL players’ rep candidly recounts his battles with the league.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192014486
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	08/05/2025
Edition description:	Unabridged

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