The NFL is never boring. It is the most powerful sports league in North America and might also be the most dysfunctional. Crazy stuff seems to happen every year. There is no better soap opera in the entertainment business. That is proving true again as the Chicago Bears and other teams become subject to one of the craziest Game Of Thrones-style controversies in recent memory. One that saw a former player try to make the mother of all powerplays, only to see it blow up spectacularly in his face.
Things began unfolding when an in-depth report from Pablo Torre and Mike Florio revealed that now-former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell was involved in a string of questionable dealings. That included misusing union funds to visit strip clubs and colluding with the NFL to cover up the intent of owners to avoid handing out fully guaranteed contracts.
Yet somehow that isn’t the craziest part.
It turns out JC Tretter, former center and NFLPA chief strategy officer, was behind the entire thing. He bent union rules to get Howell hired, covered up the background check, knew Howell was involved with a private equity group that intended to buy into NFL teams, and greenlit both collusion cases. The goal was to eventually let Howell get himself fired so Tretter could step in and claim the executive director job. That goal is now dead, as Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported that Tretter is stepping away from all players’ union duties.
The former NFLPA president, who has served as chief strategy officer for the players’ union since October, told CBS Sports on Sunday that he will not only be excluding himself from the running as interim executive director of the union, he will no longer remain with the NFLPA as of this week.
Chicago Bears players have a chance to institute needed changes.
It has long been felt that the NFLPA is among the weakest and most corrupt organizations in professional sports. Too often, their top decision-makers haven’t acted in the best interest of players. Hell, none of their recent executive directors even played in the league. Many former players are calling for significant reforms, hoping to install leadership that will be willing to put up more of a fight against NFL owners, especially with a new CBA on the horizon. That is what makes the upcoming vote to replace Howell so critical. Chicago Bears players and others have not taken their union duties seriously enough. If they want to fight for their fair share of the league’s massive profits, they must be willing to stand up for themselves.
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