Turf Wars: Conversation and Book Signing with Guest Speaker DeMaurice Smith

Join Duke University and the Sport and Society Constellation to a conversation and book signing with guest speaker DeMaurice Smith, former NFL Players Association Executive Director on November 13 at 6:30 p.m.

During his fourteen years as the head of the NFL Players Association, Smith was a front line advocate for football players through some of the most tumultuous crises in NFL history: Colin Kaepernick’s protests, Deflategate, a lockout, two collective bargaining agreements, and more. But after witnessing the league’s troubling response to discrimination and racial unrest, both within the league and beyond, Smith realized it was time to pull back the curtain and speak truth to power.

Turf Wars puts every NFL crisis — both familiar and lesser known — within a broader cultural and historical context, framing the league's extraordinary rise as a mirror to America's own history. Revelatory and profound, Turf Wars is a book about the soul of football: its degradation and how to save it.  

The Sport and Society Constellations gives first-year students an opportunity to explore the societal impact of sports through business, race, politics, religion and ethics, moving beyond the fan experience to understand the broader implications of the sports ecosystem.

Conversation and Book Signing with Guest Speaker DeMaurice Smith

Thursday, November 13, 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Physics 128 Lecture Hall
120 Science Drive