Latest news with #Don Davis
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
NFLPA's J.C. Tretter resigns after backlash against candidacy to replace Lloyd Howell, uses 'Game of Thrones' character to defend himself
J.C. Tretter was the other name scrutinized in the backlash that led to NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell resigning. He's headed out too now. The former Cleveland Browns center, who was working as the union's chief strategy officer after two terms as president during his playing days, told CBS Sports on Sunday he is taking himself out of the running for the interim executive director position and resigning from the union, citing the impact on his family. He did so after it was reported he was in a two-man race for interim executive director alongside NFLPA chief player officer Don Davis. From CBS Sports: "I'm not resigning because what I've been accused of is true. ... I'm not resigning in disgrace. I'm resigning because this has gone too far for me and my family, and I've sucked it up for six weeks. And I felt like I've been kind of left in the wind taking shots for the best of the organization," he said. "… I got to the point this morning where I woke up and I realized, like, I am going to keep dying on this f***ing sword forever of, I'll never, ever be able to do what's best for me. And I will always pick what's best for the organization. And in the end, what's the organization done for me? Like, nothing. Tretter played a central role in Howell's hire, which has been increasingly questioned after it was reported the players might not have known about a sexual discrimination lawsuit against him at his previous employer and that he had a massive conflict of interest as a Carlyle Group consultant. It was also revealed last week that a grievance successfully brought by the NFL against Tretter was covered up. The news that Tretter might have replaced Howell when the vote went to the players was met with disbelief and criticism from some former players, many of whom worked in NFLPA leadership or as player representatives. A text message was also reportedly being distributed among players railing against him as "the common denominator in all these scandals." Promoting Tretter to executive director would have represented an endorsement of the NFLPA's leadership in recent years, and it has become very clear that would be a hard sell. The NFLPA has had a very bad month The controversy began last month when Pablo Torre and Mike Florio reported the NFL and NFLPA buried a ruling on a collusion grievance that saw an arbitrator conclude that the league encouraged its teams to reduce guaranteed money in 2022 after Deshaun Watson's unprecedented, fully guaranteed contract. The NFL actually won the grievance because the arbitrator, Christopher Droney, concluded he could not establish a "clear preponderance" that NFL teams acted on that advice, but he still left a damning sentence on page 55 of a 61-page document: 'There is little question that the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts at the March 2022 annual owners' meeting.' The NFL's reason for hiding that conclusion is obvious. It validates many critics' portrayals of a league willing to color outside the lines to suppress player compensation in any way it can get away with. What was less clear was why the NFLPA agreed with the NFL that the public, and more notably the players, didn't need to see that a neutral observer concluded its main adversary was acting in such a way. Questions abounded for Howell and the rest of the union's leadership, and it got worse as the weeks went on. After Howell resigned Thursday, it was reported Friday he had been discovered to have expensed more than $3,000 at strip clubs. The NFLPA has never been anywhere close to the most prestigious or effective player union in sports, but the latest developments were beyond the pale enough for many that Tretter couldn't escape the backlash either. J.C. Tretter compares himself to a 'Game of Thrones' character while defending decisions In a lengthy interview with CBS, Tretter defended himself on many of the above contentions, most notably the notion that he pushed Howell into the executive director role from the shadows. Howell was one of two finalists, alongside former SAG-AFTRA director David White. Tretter said that while Howell performed better in interviews, the NFLPA executive committee voted 10-1 in favor of White over Howell, with Tretter among the 10. However, the committee did not share its preference with the board of 32 player representatives, who voted for Howell. Tretter said he expects there will be changes to the approval process in the next go-around. From CBS Sports: "We did hundreds of hours of work, and we did multiple rounds of interviews. We had people flying into D.C. regularly to meet candidates in person. I don't think it's feasible to do that for everybody," he explained. "… The executive committee is in the day-to-day of it. The board has the approval rights. "It's a fair question. I think that's something that the board and the [executive committee] and the players need to wrestle with as they launch the next search is like, 'How is it set up?' I'm not saying we did everything right. I think we made decisions based off what we had done historically and wanted to do something different and thought what we were doing was the best option. We've learned more since then. There are probably going to be changes. There should be changes. They should do something that they feel confident in and they should learn from every experience they have." Tretter also said he regretted the quote about injuries and running backs that led to the covered-up NFL grievance, calling it a "dumb tongue-in-cheek remark" and denied having any access to the collusion grievance Howell agreed with the NFL to keep secret. Overall, Tretter had a comparison for his role in all this — Tyrion Lannister. Let's hear him out: Tretter has been thinking about one specific scene from "Game of Thrones" over the last few weeks. Tyrion Lannister is on trial for killing his nephew, King Joffrey, and though he didn't commit the murder, he says that he wished he had. "I wish I was the monster you think I am," Lannister says at his trial. "I felt a lot of that over the last six weeks," Tretter said Sunday. "I'm being accused of being this all-controlling, all-powerful person, and I'm not. And I f***ing wish I was because I don't think we'd be in the same place we are now if I was.
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
JC Tretter, among favorites to lead NFLPA, resigns: Source
JC Tretter, considered one of two favorites to take over as interim executive director of the NFL Players Association, resigned from the organization on Sunday, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. A source briefed on the procedure said that the NFLPA executive board still plans to meet in the coming days to determine a process for selecting an interim executive director. The NFLPA had no comment on Tretter's decision, which was first reported by CBS Sports. Advertisement Tretter's resignation added to what has been a tumultuous few days for the players' union. Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned as executive director on Thursday night after weeks of negative headlines surrounding his leadership, including reports 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. In the wake of Howell's resignation, player reps from all 32 NFL teams, plus several additional voices, met on a call Friday night to discuss the future leadership of the NFLPA. Based on the discussion, the race for the next executive director was down to two candidates: Tretter, who was said to have the majority of support, and Don Davis, who several league sources have shared has had a strong push from players. Like Howell, Tretter faced some scrutiny about his actions while with the organization. On July 17, a second arbitration ruling came to light, this one involving a grievance won by the NFL against the NFLPA over fake injuries. The original grievance, filed in 2023, stemmed from a comment made by Tretter, former union president and current NFLPA chief strategy officer, in which he suggested players could fake injuries as a contract-negotiation tactic. A decision was reached on Feb. 20 in which arbitrator Sidney Moreland determined Tretter's comments violated the CBA. This story will be updated. (Top photo of JC Tretter: Kirby Lee / USA TODAY Sports)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
NFLPA interim executive director decision reportedly expected by Tuesday with J.C. Tretter, Don Davis in ‘2-man race'
The race to be the next executive director of the NFL Players Association is down to two men, according to The Athletic. Either NFLPA chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter or chief player officer Don Davis are expected to lead the union following a tumultuous week that saw Lloyd Howell abruptly resign. A decision is expected by Tuesday, when 26 of the league's 32 teams are scheduled to report to training camp, per ESPN. Representatives from all 32 NFL teams were on a call Friday night to discuss the union's leadership future. Tretter is reportedly seen as the leader ahead of Davis in terms of support from the players. Whoever gets the job is not expected to end up in the role full time. While Tretter seemingly has the support, Russini also reported on Saturday that a group of players are discussing potential legal action against the NFLPA and Tretter, "citing potential violations around inclusion, labor rights, and misuse of union dues." Howell, who led the NFLPA since 2023, resigned Thursday night after an outside investigator reportedly discovered Howell charged the union for multiple strip club visits, according to ESPN. Howell allegedly charged the union $738.82 on one receipt and another $2,426 during a separate strip club visit. ESPN's report marked the fourth time this offseason Howell's actions as NFLPA executive director came under scrutiny. Journalists Mike Florio and Pablo Torre previously unearthed two grievance rulings the NFL and NFLPA worked to keep secret. One of those rulings found evidence of collusion among teams, a potentially explosive revelation that Howell allegedly not only worked to keep out of the public, but also may have tried to keep from players.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report: NFLPA board of player reps is expected to vote on interim executive director soon
With executive director Lloyd Howell abruptly out, the NFL Players Association needs to replace him. It soon will. Via Adam Schefter of the NFLPA board of player representatives "is expected to vote" on a new interim executive director before the widespread launch of training camps, on Tuesday. The news comes a day after Dianna Russini of reported that it's currently a two-man race: JC Tretter and Don Davis. (Her tweet caused confusion because it omitted the word "interim." But it's obviously an interim hire.) Because the NFLPA Constitution doesn't contain a procedure for selecting an interim executive director, the NFLPA apparently has come up with a plan for proceeding. It's unclear how the voting will work — especially if no one gets a majority of the votes on the first ballot. Some have suggested that the NFLPA should take its time in hiring an interim executive director, given that too many of the current options are too close to Howell. There's a belief that the best play would be to find someone from the outside to step in and stabilize the situation while the search for a full-time, non-interim executive director proceeds. My own reaction to that possibility? Good freakin' luck. How will the NFLPA find someone good who'll shut down his or her life temporarily in an effort to repair the damage done by the Howell regime and to lay the foundation for someone else to take over? If, as it appears, the interim executive director will be someone who worked for the NFLPA while Howell did, it will be important to move very quickly to find the next executive director — and to make it clear that the interim executive director will not be a candidate and, ideally, will have no role in the selection of his or her replacement. Frankly, the best approach for the NFLPA could be to eventually blow up current union management, with the exception of anyone who realized that Howell was a problem and sounded the alarm about it internally.
