NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell resigned last week after a series of controversies.
“Obviously it’s unfortunate to see that happen with your union,” tight end Cole Kmet, the Bears’ union representative, said Wednesday. “It is really unfortunate. Hopefully we can respond and put good leadership in place.”
Just two weeks ago, ESPN reported an arbitration ruling that found NFL executives urged owners to reduce guaranteed salaries to players was kept confidential by NFLPA leaders, even from some of its own membership. The next day, reports said Howell was also a part-time employee of The Carlyle Group, which is a private equity firm authorized by the NFL to buy minority stakes in its teams — a potential conflict of interest.
Some players were also surprised to learn that Howell had been the subject of a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit in 2011. ESPN also found that Howell had charged the NFLPA for trips to strip clubs.
The NFLPA sent a message supporting Howell on July 13.
Four days later, he resigned.
On Sunday, former player J.C. Tretter, the union’s chief strategy officer and a favorite to take Howell’s place, also resigned. Tuesday, NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin said the union had begun the process of picking an interim executive director.
Eagles tackle Lane Johnson called the NFLPA’s issues “a [poop] show” Wednesday. Kmet was more circumspect, saying that he hoped the union would get their next hire right. Asked whether the public nature of the scandals worsened their impact, Kmet said that was part of life as a football player.
“I think that just is what it is nowadays,” he said. “I think I’m not surprised by really much, especially in our business, playing out publicly these days.”
Linebacker T.J. Edwards, the Bears’ co-alternate representative, didn’t want to delve into union issues, saying he was “locked in on what’s going on here.” Kmet has been busy lately — he got married last month and took a honeymoon to Monaco and the south of France — but has tried to keep up with the changes and controversies, attending union meetings via phone.
He pointed to guaranteed contracts as one area the players appear to be making slow progress. Before this offseason, no second-round pick had ever received a guaranteed contract. Seven of the first eight picks in the round received a full guarantee, including the Bears’ Luther Burden. Browns running back Quinshon Judkins, who was arrested and remains unsigned, is the lone exception.
“The thing is when I look at Major League Baseball, obviously they have guaranteed contracts,” Kmet said. “Basketball’s the same way. … It’s a precedent that’s set. I think we saw with some guys this year in the draft, second-round guys, start to get guaranteed contracts. That starts the precedent and makes it hard to go back on that in years going forward. It’s kinda on us players to set that precedent for the guaranteed side of things and get that going.
“I’m sure that’ll take time; I’m not sure that’ll even happen while I’m playing or anyone here is playing. I think that’s a slow burn, that that can happen over the course of time.”
Whomever the union picks to replace Howell will lead it through perhaps its most pressing question — whether to add one more game to the regular season schedule. Kmet said that if the NFL expands the schedule, there needs to be an extra bye week and a larger portion of revenue going to the players.
“Obviously from a player’s side, I think you’d want a bigger share of the pie,” he said.
