NFL: Lloyd Howell Jr. Steps Down As Head Of The NFLPA Due To “Distractions” His Leadership Caused

Lloyd Howell Jr., who has served as the executive director of the NFL Players’ Association since 2023, resigned from his role on Thursday night due to “distractions his leadership has caused”, according to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press. This abrupt resignation comes after an outside investigator found Howell used union expenses to pay for multiple strip club visits.

“It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day,” said Howell in a statement released Thursday. “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. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.”

Earlier this week, an outside investigator hired by the NFLPA obtained documents that proved Howell had charged the union for visits to two strip clubs, according to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler. The documents were identified as “union-approved expense reports and receipts.”

One receipt showed that Howell was picked up by a car service at the Fort Lauderdale International Airport at 10:26 p.m. EDT on November 2nd, 2023, and taken to a Miami Gardens location, “where the driver was hired to wait seven hours outside.” Hours later, at 6 a.m. EDT the following morning, receipts revealed that Howell was dropped off at his condo in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida, 34 minutes away.

At a later time, a finance worker did some research into the Miami Gardens location and discovered that the address belonged to Tootsie’s Cabaret, a venue that claims to be the “world’s largest strip club” on its website. That employee then flagged the receipt to be reviewed by the union’s travel department, sources told ESPN. The union’s head of travel later sent the documents to lawyers for a compliance review.

Another expense report from over a year later showed that Howell and two other employees visited an Atlanta-based strip club during the NFLPA summit on February 21st, 2025. The receipts revealed that Howell and the two employees visited the Magic City strip club, where they racked up almost $2,500 in charges. Expense reports found by ESPN claimed that the purpose of the visit was a “player engagement event to support & grow our union.” Sources that spoke to ESPN said that Howell told one of the employees to file an expense report for the outing.

Statement from Lloyd Howell Jr. pic.twitter.com/levOYblG2T

— NFLPA (@NFLPA) July 18, 2025

“$736 = This was the final amount I was charged to close the tab for both secluded sections for our Player Members,” the unnamed employee wrote on a March 23rd expense report. “This included Food, Alcoholic Drinks, fees, taxes, and gratuity.”

A spokesperson for the union declined to provide a comment when a request was made by ESPN.

The NFL Players’ Association has a strict guideline on reimbursements, especially for entertainment, a former union official said. They added that there “are no specific exclusions for venues,” including strip clubs, which can fall under the union’s “entertainment” category.

“But I don’t think anyone in their right mind would think that is an optically good scenario,” the former employee told ESPN. “In light of this, clearly that aspect of the policy should be revisited.”

“That’s pretty horrible,” said Bob Stropp, a labor lawyer who spoke to ESPN. “That’s unbelievable. I don’t know how you get around that. It’s hard to believe that anyone would be that stupid.”

Lloyd Howell Jr. was elected as the executive director of the NFLPA in 2023, replacing former executive director DeMaurice Smith, who held the position from 2009 to 2023. Prior to that, Howell worked for the D.C.-based defense contractor and consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton for 34 years, where he eventually rose to the rank of CFO.