It’s starting to feel like Lloyd Howell won’t be the executive director of the NFL Players Association much longer.
Already mired in perhaps more controversies than he can survive — and faced with the recent hire of an outside lawyer to review his activities during his two years on the job — Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com have followed their compelling reporting from Wednesday regarding the previously-hidden collusion ruling with a bombshell regarding a blatant conflict of interest that could, in theory, get Howell escorted out of the building as soon as today.
Per the report, Howell is “working as a paid, part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, one of a select group of league-approved private equity firms now seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises.”
Howell joined the firm in March 2023, three months before he emerged as the successor to DeMaurice Smith through a process that was cloaked in a bizarrely extreme degree of secrecy. After Howell got the job, via a process engineered by former NFLPA president J.C. Tretter, Howell hired Tretter in the newly-created position of chief strategy officer.
After The Carlyle Group secured approval from the NFL to pursue minority stakes in individual franchises, a union lawyer reportedly asked Howell to consider resigning from The Carlyle Group, given the appearance of a conflict of interest. Howell declined.
“[Howell] had no access to information about the NFL and Carlyle process beyond public news reports due to strict Carlyle information barriers in place,” Carlyle Group spokesperson Kristen Ashton said in a statement to ESPN.com. “Carlyle was not aware of the request from union lawyers for Lloyd to resign from Carlyle.”
Although Howell declined comment for the story, ESPN.com granted anonymity to an unnamed source who shared the self-serving claim that Howell recalls only that the concern was raised by “a union employee,” and that he said he would “do his due diligence” before making a decision.
Regardless, Howell is still working for the NFL Players Association AND as a paid, part-time consultant for a company that has been approved by the NFL to purchase minority stakes in one or more franchises.
Jim Quinn, who previously served as the NFLPA’s lead outside counsel, offered some blunt and pointed quotes to ESPN.com about the leader of a major sports union double dipping.
“As far as I knew, [former NFLPA executive directors Gene Upshaw and DeMaurice Smith] never had the ability to earn outside income,” Quinn told ESPN.com. “That wasn’t their job. Their job was to represent the players. . . .
“It would be an outrageous conflict for the head of a labor union to have an interest in a third party that is aligned with the NFL. The relationship between a labor organization and the employer organization is adversarial by definition, and as a result, as a leader, you have to be absolutely clear and clean as to having no even appearance of conflict.”
He’s exactly right. The ensuing conflict could help explain why Howell opted not to hammer the league with the glass-half-full ruling in the collusion case. Push too hard (by, for example, publicly calling for the Commissioner to resign over his role in the attempted collusion), and the NFL possibly will call the head of The Carlyle Group to complain about “their guy” doing or saying something the league office doesn’t like. (I can relate.)
As executive director of the NFLPA, Howell can have NOTHING that would potentially undermine his sole mission — and passion — for representing the interests of NFL players with an unrelenting zeal that makes no apologies and takes no prisoners.
Besides, Howell made $3.6 million during his first year on the job. He doesn’t need a side hustle; if he’s bored, he should get a hobby. Whatever he does, he absolutely shouldn’t be moonlighting with any company that has ties, direct or indirect, to the entity he should be fighting, every single day of his life.
When the NFLPA hired Howell and details regarding his background and ties emerged, I joked that Howell seems to be a possible Manchurian candidate. It’s suddenly no longer funny (if it ever was).
And the NFLPA’s player leadership should take the situation very seriously. At a minimum, Howell should be told this morning that he needs to resign from The Carlyle Group or resign from the NFLPA. Even if he chooses to give up his part-time employment with The Carlyle Group, the right outcome for the NFLPA could be to find a new executive director who puts his constituents No. 1 — with no No. 2.
It’s what the players deserve. Someone who will fully and completely commit to fighting aggressively for the rights of the men who put their bodies on the line for the entertainment of millions, and for the obscene enrichment of a handful of multi-billionaires.
Players, the NFL has weaponized your apathy against you, for years. More recently, Howell (and, frankly, Tretter) seem to have done the same thing. It’s time to wake up and take charge of your union.
I was going to add “before it’s too late,” but I didn’t. For two reasons. One, it sounds melodramatic. Two, it already is too late.
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