Pat McAfee Blasts NFLPA Leadership Amid Strip Club Spending Scandal

On Thursday night, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell handed in his resignation after a tense summer and rising scandals.

Pat McAfee Blasts NFLPA Leadership Amid Strip Club Spending Scandal

Lloyd Howell, DeMaurice Smith; Pat McAfee (Images via CNN/SI/Deadline)

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An eight-year NFL veteran and one of the leading voices in the sports broadcasting industry, Pat McAfee, blasted the NFLPA’s top rungs amid the recent strip club scandal. The host brutally ripped into the organization for misusing players’ funds and attested that there has been a series of cronyism since way back.

According to ESPN, the reason behind former NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell’s resignation on Thursday night was partly due to his role in the strip club spending scandal. The 59-year-old, along with two other employees, reportedly amassed $2,426 in charges at multiple strip club outings in Miami Gardens and Atlanta. Consequently, they filed reports on the charges, citing that these outings served a larger purpose: the growth of the union through a Player Engagement Event.

Undoubtedly, this act that has been portrayed as a symbol of ethical collapse, rightfully so, hasn’t flown under the radar. In a tell-all tweet on his personal X profile, Pat McAfee didn’t hesitate to hold the leadership’s feet to the fire. In his statement, he also dragged DeMaurice Smith, who preceded Howell in the same role.

McAfee claimed that the NFLPA leaders tend to act like celebrities and all-powerful people. He also accused them of cronyism and misuse of the league and players’ funds. In the latter half of his post, he also established a succinct job description for the heads of the union while wishing the best for the group of people who are in charge of electing the new officials. McAfee wrote:

MONEY, PROTECTION, AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE PLAYERS. That’s the gig.

The recent incident has also directed some limelight onto the other scandal involving Lloyd Howell. According to ESPN, he was also working as a paid, part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group, which was selected as one of the approved private equity firms now seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises.

Additionally, he was also accused of suppressing the findings of a collusion grievance filed by the Players Association. The recent events have been a broader reflection on how profit-driven networks led by the elite hollow out stakeholder power by personal gains and corporate allegiances.

NFLPA scrambles for stability following sudden resignation of Lloyd Howell

If the summer was unpleasant, fueled by mounting tension inside the union, what’s next is deeply unsatisfying. The NFLPA, after the resignation of Lloyd Howell, is hanging by a thread as the vacancy created instability and full-blown organizational disarray.

In a moment of need and accountability, NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin has been quiet. The absence of leadership communication only added to the turmoil.

NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin
NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin (Image via Pride of Detroit)

According to a report from The Washington Post, the NFLPA’s board of player representatives convened on Friday night to determine next steps. The first step is the appointment of an interim executive director. There are no clear rules for how the process is supposed to be done as per the union’s constitution.

The new interim director would be the organization’s first since 2008, when general counsel Richard Berthelsen stepped in following the passing of Gene Upshaw. The difference is that there was a grieving unity then, which is now replaced with ideological divisions, allegations of corporate corruption, and a loss of faith from the player base.

Amid the opaque procedural curtains, early reports suggested that the former NFL center JC Tretter and Don Davis, the senior advisor to Howell, are the key candidates. JC Tretter has previously served as the NFLPA president from 2020 to 2024.

Another name that has surfaced is retiring counsel Tom DePaso. All said and done, there’s also a request for more transparency from the players and analysts. It needs to be seen what tactics the organization might pull in one of the heaviest crises in their history.

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