When it comes to the NFLPA brouhaha regarding the status of Executive Director Gene Upshaw, we’re reading between the lines more than we usually do.

We’re doing that because:  (1) Upshaw’s heart-on-his-sleeve style make it easier to accurately do so; and (2) it’s obvious that there has been, and surely still is, plenty of stuff going on behind the scenes on this one.

The latest report on the subject from Chris Mortensen of ESPN speaks directly to speculation that Monday’s announcement that Clark Gaines will be the Assistant Executive Director sparked the Matt Stover e-mail regarding the importance of finding Upshaw’s replacement.

Upshaw promoted Gaines to No. 2 not long after declaring that there would be no No. 2, presumably in reference to Troy Vincent’s apparent desire to obtain the No. 2 job and, in time, the No. 1 position.  But Upshaw now says that the Assistant Executive Director position isn’t really the No. 2 job.

Upshaw told Mortensen that anyone “who has carried the title of assistant executive director will tell you they never felt like they were the successor-in-waiting or a true No. 2. Under our constitution I have full authority to hire anybody I want in our building.  And with what we’re facing on the labor front, we don’t need to send a signal to owners that they can get a backdoor deal with a No. 2 guy.”

So, reading between the lines, Upshaw is saying that he didn’t want Vincent to be the Assistant Executive Director because Vincent would have regarded himself as the No. 2 and thus Vincent and the NFL might have come together behind Upshaw’s back to work out a Collective Bargaining Agreement via a process that would have rendered Upshaw irrelevant.

Though that’s not what Upshaw said, it’s essentially what he is saying. 

Regardless of Upshaw’s concerns, the process of finding his successor needs to commence, so that the person not only can be accurately identified but also properly groomed.  As one league source told us today, Troy Vincent is no more prepared to be the Executive Director of the NFLPA than my 11-year-old son. 

The problem is that Upshaw won’t be willing to groom anyone whom he perceives to be a threat.  And so if Upshaw can manage to keep the job until after the next CBA is negotiated, then the only persons who’ll have the knowledge and experience to take over will be persons who have gained their knowledge and experience while working with Upshaw.

Like Clark Gaines, the Assistant Executive Director, who really isn’t No. 2.  Even though he obviously is.