Strip Club Expenses Contributed to NFLPA Chief Lloyd Howell Jr.’s Resignation

Former NFLPA president Lloyd Howell Jr. used union money to visit strip clubs while he was being investigated by federal law forces.

Strip Club Expenses Contributed to NFLPA Chief Lloyd Howell Jr.’s Resignation

Lloyd Howell Jr. (Image via ESPN)

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Lloyd Howell Jr.’s sudden resignation as the president of the NFLPA raised ample eyebrows. Howell, in his defense, claimed that the controversies surrounding his tenure influenced his decision to step down from the prestigious post.

On Friday, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler published an article that shed light on the controversies. The union launched an investigation against Howell after a finance worker discovered that he had a rental car tab of $738.82 from November 2023.

A sedan picked Howell up at Fort Lauderdale International Airport. Its first stop was at an address in nearby Miami Gardens.

When the employee searched the address on the internet, he found that the address belonged to an establishment named Tootsie’s Cabaret, which prides itself on being rated the number one nudist bar (strip club) in the world.

A year later, Howell and two union employees visited a strip club in Atlanta. They booked two private rooms, which cost them $2,426. Additionally, they withdrew more than $500 from the ATM.

In both trips, Howell misused his privileges as the president of the NFLPA. He deducted funds from the union. To cover up his questionable actions, he directed one of the employees to create a false report that misrepresented the strip club visits as a ‘Player Engagement Event to support and grow our Union.’

According to the Federal Labor Laws, the deductions are subject to reimbursement. However, the reimbursement never took place. It raised an alert with the union, and they hired an independent investigator.

Why did Lloyd Howell Jr. resign from his post as the president of the NFLPA?

Howell was hired in 2023 following a 16-month ultra-confidential evaluation process. The hiring itself raised a lot of questions for Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Strip Club Expenses Contributed to NFLPA Chief Lloyd Howell Jr.’s Resignation
Lloyd Howell Jr. (Image via Yardbarker)

After digging into Howell’s past, Florio found he spent 34 years with Booz Allen Hamilton (a trade company), occupying various positions of power, including Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer. Howell left the company in 2022.

A few months later, he became the president of the NFLPA without any prior experience in football governance.

In May 2025, Pablo Torre, a former ESPN reporter who has transitioned to podcast hosting, disclosed on his show ‘Pablo Torre Finds Out’ that the FBI was investigating Lloyd Howell Jr. regarding financial activities linked to the NFLPA, the MLB Players Association, and a multibillion-dollar group-licensing entity known as OneTeam Partners.

On Thursday, ESPN also unearthed a 2011 s**ual discrimination lawsuit against Howell when he was still part of Booz Allen Hamilton.

Even before the federal agency filed its report on the investigation, Howell decided to step down as president of the NFLPA.

It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day. For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately.

Lloyd Howell Jr.’s statement read

The investigation is still open. Howell succeeded DeMaurice Smith, who was the president from 2009 to 2023.

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