The embattled executive director of the NFL Players Association has resigned.
Lloyd Howell Jr. announced late Thursday that he would be stepping down from his role “effective immediately” after his leadership had “become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day.”
Howell has been embroiled in a number of controversies in recent weeks, stemming from his role as a part-time consultant with a private equity firm that can pursue a minority ownership stake in an NFL team to reports that he struck a confidential agreement with the league to hide the findings of a January arbitration ruling from the players.
Most recently, ESPN reported that there was a dispute over whether the players had been aware when they voted for him in 2023 of a lawsuit against Howell in 2011 for alleged sexual discrimination and retaliation when he was with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Howell was not forced out of his NFLPA, according to a report from Yahoo Sports, as he stepped down from his role on his own accord.
The NFLPA board will meet in the coming days and weeks to determine the next steps, the outlet reported.
“Our members deserve a union that will fight relentlessly for their health, safety, financial futures, and long-term well-being,” Howell said in a statement. “My priority has been to lead that fight by serving this union with focus and dedication. It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day.
“For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.”
Among the issues that have arisen for Howell included the confidential agreement that the union struck with the league to keep the findings of independent arbitrator Christopher Droney regarding the finding of insufficient evidence of collusion by NFL owners.
But the report included a finding that the NFLPA had shown “by a clear preponderance of the evidence” that commissioner Roger Goodell and league general counsel Jeff Pash encouraged owners “to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting.”
The findings were discovered and reported on by Pablo Torre on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.
ESPN reported earlier this month about Howell’s connection to The Carlyle Group, where he started as a consultant in the firm’s aerospace and defense division months before taking over as NFLPA executive director.
The Carlyle Group was one of several private equity firms approved to seek minority ownership stakes with NFL teams.
In a statement to The Post, The Carlyle Group said Howell “had no access to information about the NFL and Carlyle process beyond public news reports due to strict Carlyle information barriers in place.”
On Thursday, ESPN reported that there had been a disagreement among NFLPA members about their knowledge of Howell’s previous legal entanglements from his time with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Source link
