Former NFL Players Association presidents Troy Vincent and Trace Armstrong remain in the running to succeed Gene Upshaw as executive director after the union pared its list of finalists to about nine.
A person familiar with a portion of the list said the candidates also include sports attorney David Cornwell, Mike Kenn, another past NFLPA president, and former union executive vice president John Spagnola. The person was not authorized to release such information and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The new executive director will be selected at the NFLPA’s annual meeting in Hawaii in March. Upshaw died in August after holding the post since 1983.
There are as many as four other candidates still being considered after the list was cut from about 14 during a NFLPA search committee meeting Dec. 16, the person said.
finalist for NFL commissioner two years ago – did not make the cut, the person said.
The remaining candidates will be interviewed by the search committee during the next few weeks. The list will then be trimmed to three and no more than four finalists, who will be placed on a ballot for election by the union’s 32 player representatives.
NFLPA president and Titans center Kevin Mawae declined to identify the candidates or discuss the search process except to say it is proceeding as scheduled.
“We’re right where we need to be and things are looking good,” Mawae said.
Vincent and Armstrong are considered the front-runners because they are the union’s two most recent presidents.
A 16-year NFL veteran, Vincent held the job from 2004 before being succeeded by Mawae last spring. Armstrong is now working as a sports agent for Creative Artists Agency and served as president before Vincent.
Cornwell most recently represented a group of NFL players appealing suspensions for taking a diuretic that is a masking agent for steroids. He previously served as an assistant general counsel for the NFL.
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Spagnola, a former tight end, spent 10 years in the NFL with the Eagles, Seahawks and Packers.
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AP Sports Writer Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Tenn., contributed to this story.
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