Description
An NFL insider’s explosive account of the ruthless power struggles between owners and players over the future of 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. 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.
Author: Demaurice Smith
Publisher: Random House
Published: 8/5/2025
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.2 lbs
Size: 9.3″ H x 6.3″ L x 1.3″ W
ISBN: 9780593729427
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