Though NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw has made it clear that he plans to stay on the job for as long as it takes to secure a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the union’s executive board has opted not to heed his wishes.

According to David Elfin of the Washington Times, the board has commenced the process of locating a replacement for Upshaw.

Per Elfin, documents obtained by the Times reveal that the board wants to have eight to ten possible successors identified by November 1, with the list of finalists narrowed to six by January 1.

“The intent of the executive committee is to find a successor, not to fire Gene,” an anonymous player representative told Elfin.  “The process might take a year.  It might not happen until 2010.  The person the search firm recommends might not be approved.”

Though Upshaw’s gruff and presumptuous management style likely has invited this effort, the failure of the players to rise up against him earlier means that the present effort could play directly into the hands of the NFL.  With Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations looming, news of a search for a replacement undermines the union’s current leader, and plays directly into Upshaw’s fear that the league might bypass its long-time Executive Director and deal directly with whoever the league perceives the successor to be, if that person is already in the building.