5 days ago
NFLPA's interim executive director not expected to get full-time job: Source
A high-ranking executive in the NFL offices says the league anticipates that whoever gets the NFL Players' Association interim executive director job will not be promoted to the full-time role.
According to an NFLPA source, the union's legal team is meeting with the executive committee and board of player reps on Friday. No timetable has been set for naming an interim executive director.
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Lloyd Howell, the union's executive director, announced his resignation on Thursday night. A source in the league office, granted anonymity because they are not cleared to speak publicly on the matter, says the NFL anticipates the PA will not consider the interim executive director for the full-time job, breaking from a group previously led by Howell and NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter.
Howell resigned after weeks of reporting uncovered controversial actions under his leadership, as revealed by ESPN, Pro Football Talk and 'Pablo Torre Finds Out.' The findings included the NFLPA reportedly agreeing to a confidentiality agreement with the NFL to hide information about an arbitration decision, as well as concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving Howell's consulting work for a private equity group approved by the league for a minority ownership stake.
Meanwhile, federal investigators have been conducting a probe into some sports union officials and OneTeam Partners, a company that licenses athletes' name, image and likeness rights. Five sports unions hold stakes in OneTeam, including the NFLPA with 44 percent. An official inside the NFLPA raised concerns that union officials could enrich themselves via OneTeam, and last winter, the NFLPA hired an outside firm to conduct an investigation. At the time, Howell was a board member of the company as part of his role in NFLPA leadership.
The NFLPA hired Howell in 2023 following a search process that was criticized for its lack of transparency. Before his work at the NFLPA, Howell worked for 34 years at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., including as the chief financial officer. Like his predecessor at the NFLPA, DeMaurice Smith, Howell did not have a background in sports; his BA is in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and he has an MBA from Harvard.
