Key representatives of the NFL Players Association have convened in Hawaii to say aloha to executive director DeMaurice Smith. The precise meaning of the “aloha” will be determined.

Smith and eight challengers will make their cases to the 32 player representatives, who’ll eventually vote — perhaps repeatedly.

On Saturday, each candidate will have a 40-minute window for making a presentation to the voters and questions/answers, which can be divided however the candidate wants. For example, a candidate can spend 25 minutes presenting and 15 minutes answering questions.

The order for the presentations will be determined by a blind draw.

On Sunday, the candidates will return for breakout sessions, spending 25 minutes in each of four rooms, with the 32 voting reps dividing up, eight reps each. The candidates can use that time however they like.

Later, each candidate will have 15 minutes each for closing remarks.

Votes then will be taken, with the process continuing until one candidate gets 17 votes. If it doesn’t happen on the first ballot, the candidate with the lowest number gets dropped. The votes will be taken one after the other until someone gets 17 votes. (All ties will be broken based on the total dues-paying members represented by each voter.)

It’s going to require plenty of attention and patience for the voters over the next two days, given the number of candidates. And one of the reasons that they must sift through nine total candidates is because representatives could nominate as many candidates as they wanted — and some of them nominated multiple candidates.