MARK JUDGE: DeMaurice Smith Fumbles in His Turf War.

DeMaurice Smith is not happy.

Smith was the head of the NFL Players Association from 2009 to2023. On Aug. 5, he will publish a new book: Turf Wars: The Fight for the Soul of America’s Game.

I’ve obtained an early copy of the book after it leaked that Smith had a lot of nasty things to say about various figures in the league. He called the Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers “the god of Cheesehead Nation” and said Rogers “was isolated and dismissive” during negotiations. Smith also calls League Commissioner Roger Goodell a “cold, dark void” and says Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is cheap: “If Jerry Jones saw a dollar bill on the ground, I truly believe he’d stop and pick it up.”

While news outlets have focused on the celebrity names in Turf Wars, the book reads less as a collection of celebrity gossip and more like the sort of political screeching you’d expect to hear at a Berkeley protest. Smith does not like the NFL’s owners, to be sure, but he also has harsh things to say about America.

Exit quote: “These are explosive and intriguing claims. The problem for Smith, however, is that his anecdotes don’t serve as proof.”

From Judge’s review, Smith wrote maybe one-half of an NFL exposé. I’d love to read the really juicy half, should he ever get around to writing it.

Related (From Ed): Prior to Smith’s time at the NFL Players Association, he served “as counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder and was a member of Barack Obama’s transition team,” as the American Thinker reported in 2009, after Smith helped to blow up Rush Limbaugh’s effort to be part of the team purchasing the then-St. Louis Rams.