NFL Players Association executive JC Tretter is resigning amid union overhaul
WASHINGTON (AP) — NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter is resigning from his position, three days after Lloyd Howell stepped down as executive director of the players’ union.
Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday that he doesn’t want to be considered for the NFLPA’s interim executive director position and denied he played any role in undermining Howell’s position.
“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that’s something I can’t deal with,” Tretter told CBS Sports on Sunday. “So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being (executive director). I have no interest in being considered. I’ve let the executive committee know that. I’m also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don’t have anything left to give the organization.”
The 34-year-old Tretter, who played center for eight seasons with Green Bay and Cleveland through 2021, was the player president from 2020 to 2024. He served in his new role since October 2024.
Howell resigned Thursday after two years because his leadership had become a distraction. Howell has come under scrutiny since ESPN reported he has maintained a part-time consulting job with the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that holds league approval to seek minority ownership in NFL franchises.
That followed the revelation that the NFLPA and the league had a confidentiality agreement to keep quiet an arbitrator’s ruling about possible collusion by owners over quarterback salaries.
The latest issue was an ESPN report Thursday that revealed two player representatives who voted for Howell were not aware that he was sued in 2011 for sexual discrimination and retaliation while he was a senior executive at Booz Allen.
In 2023, a year after the NFLPA sued the owners for collusion, the NFL sued the union after Tretter suggested in an interview that running backs who were unhappy with their contracts could fake injuries, which would be a violation of the collective bargaining agreement.
The grievance also was decided this year and was not shared publicly.
Tretter told CBS Sports he didn’t have access to the collusion grievance and wasn’t involved in the confidentiality agreements.
Tretter was the NFLPA’s player president in 2023 when Howell was elected as the union’s executive director following a vote that changed the union’s constitution and made the search and election process more confidential.
“I’m not resigning because what I’ve been accused of is true,” Tretter said. “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. … And in the end, what’s the organization done for me? Like, nothing.”
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