Pro Football Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Harry Carson are supporting Cyrus Mehri’s candidacy for executive director of the players’ union.

The civil rights attorney who co-wrote the league’s Rooney Rule announced Tuesday that he intends to challenge DeMaurice Smith for the top job at the NFL Players Association. On Wednesday, Winslow, Carson and John Wooten backed Mehri, though they no longer are voting members of the union.

Wooten, Carson and Winslow were instrumental in the creation of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, an affinity group of NFL minority coaches, scouts and front-office personnel that advocates for policy changes in the NFL hiring practices.

“The NFLPA is a group of united workers, and many of the issues that they face are just like those that other workers in this country face: issues of health, safety, dignity, and career longevity,” they said in a statement. “The players need an executive director who is an expert in labor and employment law and who will stand up to the NFL. Nobody is better prepared to do this than Cyrus.