“What sometimes gets lost in the shuffle is that the owners are the ones who opted out of the current agreement,” said Smith. “We had an agreement that was signed in 2006 and the owners opted out because they said it wasn’t working for them.  Players haven’t asked for one more dollar, all they want is a fair and equitable deal.”

Smith contends that much of what’s been reported only serves to facilitate all the madness. “No, players don’t currently get 60 percent of all revenues,” he said. “In fact, what owners are now proposing would be the total opposite of such a model, one which would be 60 to 40 percent in the owner’s favor.  How’s that equitable for guys who only have a three to four-year career life span to begin with?”

Still, armed with a business IQ and a level of political savvy few can match, Smith readily admits to being overwhelmed by at least one facet of his job.  “At the end of the day our guys love what they do and they just want to play.  They didn’t ask for any of this… they just want to be able to play football.  And when all the negotiating, all the rhetoric and all the posturing are done, it’s my job to get them what they want.”