While in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX this past February, NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. celebrated the union’s communication with members under his watch. However, less than a month earlier, he worked with the league office to keep players in the dark over an explosive collusion decision.
On Wednesday, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler wrote about findings from an NFL collusion hearing held in July and August 2024 that were first reported two weeks ago by Pablo Torre on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast.
Van Natta and Kahler wrote that on Jan. 14, an arbitrator found “there wasn’t sufficient evidence of collusion by owners,” while also noting “that the NFLPA showed ‘by a clear preponderance of the evidence’ that commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s general counsel Jeff Pash had urged owners to restrict guaranteed money in player contracts.”
Despite those findings (or, better yet, because of them), Lloyd and other senior NFLPA leaders agreed to a confidentiality agreement with the league to keep the decision private.
Van Natta and Kahler reported that on Tuesday, July 8, Howell and the NFLPA decided to appeal the January ruling.
“The union declined to answer questions Wednesday about why the decision to appeal took nearly six months,” ESPN wrote.
That shouldn’t be a surprise.
After all, NFLPA leadership has been grossly inept at being transparent for years, dating back to the hiring process that led to Howell becoming the Players Association’s fourth executive president.
In 2023, the NFLPA elected Howell following a tight-lipped process that kept several people close to the search in the dark.
“It’s so secretive… It’s hard to get any information,” one source told The Washington Post.
“There’s just too much secrecy with this one,” added Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” two days before the NFLPA voted to make Howell executive director. “Someone should know by now. We should know by now who the finalists are,” Florio said.
