Veteran offensive lineman Eric Winston elected president of NFL Players Association

ORLANDO, Fla. – Offensive lineman Eric Winston was elected president of the NFL Players Association on Wednesday, three years after he was active for the union during the lockout.

The 30-year-old Winston was the Arizona Cardinals’ starting right tackle last season, his eighth in the league. He is currently a free agent.

He succeeds Domonique Foxworth as NFLPA president. Foxworth was out of the league last season and so could not seek re-election.

The other candidates for president were New Orleans Saints tight end Ben Watson and former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Ryan Clark, who is a free agent.

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith tweeted: “Thank you to @Foxworth24 and all the Executive Committee for their leadership. Congratulations to Eric Winston. Lots of great work ahead.”

Winston has played for Houston, Kansas City and Arizona since being chosen by the Texans in the third round of the 2006 draft. He played his first six NFL seasons with the Texans, joined the Chiefs in 2012, then moved to the Cardinals last season. Winston has started 112 consecutive games.

He has served on the union’s committees for finance and agent discipline and does community work on behalf of Shriners Hospital for Children.

Winston was elected as a co-alternate union representative by the Texans in 2010.

While in Kansas City, he drew plenty of national attention early in the 2012 season, when he criticized Chiefs fans who cheered when the team’s then-quarterback, Matt Cassel, got a concussion during a game.

“It’s 100 per cent sickening,” Winston said that day. “I’ve never, ever — and I’ve been in some rough times on some rough teams — I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than at that moment right there.”

The union was scheduled to hold elections for its executive committee later Wednesday.

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