Dan Snyder ‘Needs to Be Removed,’ Says One N.F.L. Owner
The National Football League is in the midst of the most thorough, multiyear examination of its players, coaches and officials ever seen since it adopted the rule change that allowed for players to be eligible for their first 16 games of a season whether they were under contract or not.
The league is also in the midst of the first major examination of its players since former N.F.L. president Michael McCaskey, a retired NFL executive, wrote in his 1998 book “The Players’ Tribune: The Players, the League, the Game” about the league’s need to find a way to punish players who commit illegal acts on the field, such as repeated offensive and illegal hits, without penalizing them for being under contract.
Among those who read Mr. McCaskey’s book is Ed Kraut, a former N.F.L. executive who is currently the executive vice president of N.F.L. media operations.
Mr. Smith, the president of the N.F.L. Players Association, said that Mr. Kraut should be removed from his position as executive vice president because the league is violating NFL rules and Mr. Kraut’s role in approving changes in the current and future rules governing the N.F.L.
“Mike McCaskey laid out very clearly the facts and what is needed,” Mr. Smith said in an interview. “There has been a lot of confusion, and Mike is a man who has been with the organization for a very long time. He laid out the facts and he said what would follow in the event that he had to make a decision. And he didn’t take any of Michael McCaskey’s recommendations.
“I know who runs the N.F.L. Players Association, and I know