Lloyd

Howell Jr.

A memo titled “Crisis Management” was delivered to ESPN, “just days after executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. and director of strategy J.C. Tretter both resigned.” It details what ESPN describes as “the biggest crisis in the union’s 68-year history,” and references a concurrent FBI investigation into OneTeam Partners, a $2 billion group-licensing firm co-founded by the NFLPA and the Major League Baseball Players Association in 2019, on which Howell held a board seat. Per the report, “the memo also reveals the possibility that players might sue the union for the January collusion decision,” concealed by a confidentiality agreement struck between Howell and the league. The memo “urges player reps to take ‘prudent and definitive actions’ to avoid Justice Department-ordered, court-supervised oversight of the NFLPA.” Recommendations regarding interim executive director candidates are included, with the goal of filling the union’s “leadership vacuum.” This saga appears to be far from over.

Tretter previously served as the NFLPA’s president, having been initially elected in 2020 and later re-elected in 2022. He was hired for the newly created chief strategy officer role by former NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell shortly after Howell’s hiring. Howell resigned from his former position last Thursday. Per CBS’s Jonathan Jones, some members of the NFLPA’s executive committee had interest in Tretter taking over as interim executive director for the next several months.

ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler continue their reporting on Howell’s professional behaviors with a new story detailing Howell’s visits to what can generously be described as gentlemen’s clubs. Per the report, “a young union finance worker” noticed an exorbitant cost among Howell’s expenses, which prompted further investigation. Howell is said to have made multiple late-night visits to these businesses, including one trip in which Howell was “accompanied [by] two union employees.” Howell filed the visit under “Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union.” Van Natta and Kahler add that “a former union employee said that there are no specific exclusions for venues,” but the individual reasonably concludes, “I don’t think anyone in their right mind would think that is an optically good scenario.” No players are currently known to have been involved in Howell’s activities.

Howell’s part-time work as a consultant for The Carlyle Group was made known several weeks ago, which generated conversations around a potential conflict of interest between the two roles. Days after the NFLPA released a statement in support of Howell, he has now opted to resign from his role after further consideration. He served 749 days in his role.

Sources tell ESPN that the lawsuit was settled in July 2015 for an undisclosed sum, and stems from Howell’s time at Booz Allen Hamilton. Per the report, two player reps “were surprised to learn of the lawsuit,” saying, “the subject never came up” when the group voted Howell into his current position in June 2023. However, two other players, who sat on the union’s executive committee that vetted and chose Howell as a finalist in 2023, disputed those accounts, saying, they worked closely with search firm Russell Reynolds Associates regarding this and other matters. The latter two executive committee members, “at times,” could not recall details and/or declined to divulge details of Howell’s interview process. Prior ESPN reporting on Howell’s 34 years at Booz Allen Hamilton noted that the firm paid a $377 million fine to settle a long-standing whistleblower lawsuit from the federal government that alleged overcharging by the firm, which was announced a month after the NFLPA’s executive committee hired Howell to be its executive director.

Howell came under scrutiny after it was revealed last week that he worked part-time as a paid consultant for The Carlyle Group, which is a private equity firm. On Sunday, the NFLPA released a statement that it rejects “attempts to mischaracterize the committee’s views or divide membership” regarding this news, while adding any reports of the NFLPA calling for Howell to step down are false. It would appear Howell, who was appointed to his position in 2023, will remain in his role for the upcoming season.

Last August, the NFL approved just “three private equity firms and a consortium of firms” as potential NFL-team investors, for minority stakes that are not to exceed 10.0 percent. The Carlyle Group is one such firm, where Howell works as an “operations executive in The Carlyle Group’s aerospace and defense investment team.” He earned $3.4 million in the role last year. Although Howell’s department does not directly overlap with a potential NFL investment, a union lawyer asked him “to consider resigning from the private equity firm to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.” Howell also notably serves on three boards of directors, including GE HealthCare, Moody’s and ManTech, earning six-figure compensation with at least two of them. Per the report, “longtime union observers and executives said they find it baffling that Howell would continue to work at The Carlyle Group while leading the union,” and Jim Quinn, the NFLPA’s former lead outside counsel, notes that neither of Howell’s predecessors were allowed to be paid for outside work. The NFLPA recently “struck a confidentiality agreement with the NFL to keep the details of a January arbitration ruling under wraps from players,” following an investigation into potential top-down collusion regarding player salary guarantees. Last month, the union reportedly hired a law firm “to work with a special committee of players to review Howell’s activities as the executive director,” after ESPN broke, in May, that “the FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating the union’s financial dealings related to a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm,” which Howell holds a board seat on.

Howell adamantly pushed back on commissioner Roger Goodell’s statements that recent safety data does not discourage an 18-game season. He said, “frankly, we’re not sure how he’s reaching that conclusion based on the data we’ve been given access to.” The 18-game season has been a topic of discussion ever since the NFL went to 17 games in 2020. The NFL and NFLPA have only had informal discussions on the issue and Howell mentioned there will be other considerations before even discussing 18 games, as 17 games “is also so lengthy that you’re still dealing with injuries going into the next season.” There will continue to be discussions around an extended regular season up until the current CBA expires after the 2030 season.