(4-8-08)

Baltimore kicker wants to oust union head

NEW YORK (AP) - Veteran kicker Matt Stover of the Baltimore
Ravens has begun a campaign to replace Gene Upshaw as executive
director of the NFL Players Association by next March. Upshaw
is a Robstown High School graduate and played college football
at Texas A&I.
In an e-mail to the union's executive board and player
representatives that was obtained by ESPN, Stover says he feels the
board "must begin to prepare for a change in leadership
immediately."
Stover's action comes at a time when the union could be heading
for critical negotiations with the league on the collective
bargaining agreement.
Upshaw's contract runs through 2010, and he has said he will not
leave until the union gets through its latest negotiations with the
owners, who are expected to opt out of their March 2006 agreement
with the union next November. That would trigger a new round of
negotiations.
March 2009 marks the beginning of the last year with a salary
cap if the contract is voided and could be a critical time in those
talks.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

AP-NY-04-08-08 1618EDT