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By LIZ MULLEN
Sports Business Journal Staff writer
Published March 31, 2008 : Page 01

NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw, facing the prospect of mandatory retirement during his biggest labor battle in decades, said last week that he had no plans to name a No. 2 executive and would not leave the union until the right successor was found.

Under a union rule put into effect years ago by Upshaw himself, NFLPA employees must retire at age 65. Upshaw will turn 65 in August 2010, which stands to be the last year of the current labor agreement.

The collective-bargaining agreement runs until 2012, but owners have the option to opt out of the deal two years earlier. It is widely expected they will exercise that right later this year.

That could mean that the union would be looking for a new leader at the same time that players are facing a lockout. Upshaw has said he believes the NFL is preparing to lock players out in 2011.

�I will not leave the PA until I am satisfied we have the right leader,� Upshaw wrote last week in an e-mail from Hawaii, where he was vacationing after the NFLPA annual meeting there earlier this month.

�We have a rule of [a mandatory retirement age of] 65 in the NFLPA, but as executive director I can stay until a replacement is found,� he said.

Upshaw did not respond to inquiries on whether he would overturn the rule since he was the one who put it in place. He also did not answer whether he would leave the union at a time when it was likely to be facing a labor war.

According to the annual report that the NFLPA files with the U.S. Department of Labor, Upshaw�s employment contract expires Dec. 31, 2010. Upshaw, a Hall of Fame offensive guard for the Oakland Raiders, will turn 65 on Aug. 15, 2010, according to several biographies and other information on the Internet.

In recent years, there has been growing speculation that Troy Vincent, the NFLPA�s player president for the last four years, would succeed Upshaw as executive director. NFL players ultimately vote on who will be hired for that post.

Speculation about Vincent increased after Yahoo! Sports ran a story March 19 under the headline, �Vincent to become union�s No. 2� and said Vincent expected to be named assistant executive director of the NFLPA at the union�s annual meeting, according to two unnamed sources.

But that did not occur at the union meeting. Upshaw wrote, �Troy is not No. 2 and he has not been hired. � The speculation that Troy will succeed me is just that. It will not be my decision to make but I will have plenty of input.�

Vincent, who is no longer an active player and therefore could not seek another term as player president, said he had no agreement with Upshaw to be hired at the NFLPA, although he allowed that potentially could happen in the future. Upshaw �obviously does all the hiring as the executive director. I have no expectations,� Vincent said last week.

Upshaw, meanwhile, indicated he would not be hiring Vincent or anyone else as the No. 2 in command at the NFLPA.

�There is only a No. 1 and there will not be a No. 2,� Upshaw wrote. �Number 2 is always trying to become No.1 and never wants to wait. They can always do it better, they are like backup [quarterbacks]. There is a reason they are backups.�